Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Melbourne, FL
Issued by NWS Melbourne, FL
699 FXUS62 KMLB 020727 AFDMLB Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Melbourne FL 327 AM EDT Thu May 2 2024 ...New DISCUSSION, AVIATION, MARINE, FIRE WEATHER... .DISCUSSION... Issued at 327 AM EDT Thu May 2 2024 Today-Tonight...High pressure persists over the western Atlantic today, with the ridge axis stretching into Florida. The near- summer-like pattern will continue today, with the east coast sea breeze developing late morning, then pushing inland into the afternoon. A sea breeze collision is forecast west of Orlando late this afternoon. While this pattern would typically produce higher rain chances during the summer months, limited available moisture today is forecast to inhibit convection. PoPs 15-20% from around Orlando westward mid to late afternoon will be possible thanks to PWATs around 1.15-1.25". However, significant dry air in the mid and upper levels (above 700mb) will hinder deep updraft development, especially near the coast. Nonetheless, CAMs do show a few showers and storms developing near Lake County this afternoon. The main threats with any storms will be lightning strikes, gusty winds, and brief downpours. Any development is forecast to push into west central Florida by the evening hours. Highs this afternoon will reach the mid-80s along the coast and the upper 80s to near 90 inland. Tonight, dry conditions prevailing, under partly cloudy skies. Onshore winds will become light. Overnight low temperatures will be near-normal for this time of year in the mid to upper 60s. Friday-Sunday...Mid-upper level ridging generally persists, with the ridge amplifying a fair amount Friday, but then a few shortwaves swinging through over the weekend will provide a modest lowering of heights. At the surface, high pressure over the western Atlantic extending across Florida on Friday retreats well offshore, replaced by another area of high pressure extending from the Canadian maritimes down the Atlantic seaboard and towards the Caribbean. The increase in heights Friday looks to kill the little instability we previously had, and a mostly dry day is expected. Late Saturday and Sunday, moisture from a decaying frontal boundary stretching down to the Southeast US sags into Florida, increasing PWATs from 1.0-1.2" early Saturday to 1.4-1.6" Sunday, which combined with lowering of heights from the shortwaves, brings chances for rain and lightning storm back. Instability isn`t impressive, with MUCAPE generally 500-700 J/kg, but 500mb temperatures around -10C will allow any convection that becomes deep to produce lightning and gusty winds. Have 20 pct PoPs accompanied with a slight chance of lightning storms areawide Saturday (which looks to be more in the late evening when higher moisture arrives) and Sunday. Above normal temperatures continue, warmest on Friday with highs in the U80s-90 inland, and L-M80s along the coastal corridor thanks to onshore flow and the sea breeze, dropping a degree a two Saturday and Sunday thanks to higher cloud cover. Overnight lows in the M60s-70. Light easterly to southeasterly winds in the overnight and early morning pick up to 10-15 mph from the east in the afternoon thanks to sea breeze enhancement. Monday-Thursday...A little bit of disagreement between the GFS and ECM over how much moisture we keep going in next week, with the GFS staying 1.2-1.4" or so and the ECM dropping as low as 1.1-1.3", but mid-level ridging building from the Gulf of Mexico looks to shut the door on rain chances. Better agreement for dry conditions mid-week onward as GFS PWATs also decrease to the 1.1-1.3" range. Surface high pressure building back across the Atlantic basin with the ridge axis extending across Central to South Florida will result in southeasterly flow Monday and Tuesday veering southerly Wednesday, and southwesterly to westerly late in the week (turning onshore daily with the sea breeze). Combined with subsidence from the ridging aloft, temperatures will gradually increase through the week as high in the U80s-90 inland and L-M80s along the coastal corridor Monday afternoon, become well above normal in the M-U90s inland and U80-L90s along the coastal corridor Thursday afternoon. Overnight lows increase from the M60s-70 to the U60-L70s. && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFs) Issued at 327 AM EDT Thu May 2 2024 VFR conditions prevailing, though will be watching the potential for some MIFG, mainly for northern terminals, through around 13Z. Confidence in any reductions is too low for most locations, though have maintained a TEMPO for MVFR reductions at DAB and SFB, where confidence is higher. Onshore flow through the period, increasing to 9-12kts this afternoon along and behind the sea breeze. Winds then becoming light after sunset (0-2Z). A few showers and storms will be possible near LEE late this afternoon, though confidence in timing and location are too low to include a mention at this time. && .MARINE... Issued at 327 AM EDT Thu May 2 2024 Today-Tonight...Generally favorable boating conditions, as high pressure persists over the western Atlantic, stretching into the Florida peninsula. Onshore flow during daytime hours, becoming 10-15kts during the afternoon, as the sea breeze pushes inland. Overnight, winds veer southeasterly at around 5-10kts. Any showers or storms this afternoon are forecast to remain well inland. Seas 2-3ft. Friday-Monday...Favorable boating conditions, minus isolated to scattered showers and lightning storms Saturday and Sunday. High pressure over the western Atlantic extending across Florida Friday retreats well offshore Saturday, but is followed quickly by another area of high pressure building from the Canadian maritimes down the eastern seaboard to the Caribbean into early next week. Easterly winds 5-10 kts overnight and in the early morning increase to 10-15 kts in the afternoon with the sea breeze, becoming southeasterly Sunday and Monday. Seas 2-3 ft. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 327 AM EDT Thu May 2 2024 Min RH values between 40-45% are forecast through this weekend across the interior, with higher values for coastal areas. Drier conditions are forecast next week, as min RH once again falls to around 35% for much of the area by mid-week. Isolated lightning storms will be possible today well inland, with additional chances this weekend. However, widespread beneficial rainfall is not forecast through the next 7 days, so further fuel drying is expected. High temperatures will climb to well above normal through the period, with highs today in the mid-80s along the coast and upper 80s to near 90 over the interior increasing to as high as the lower to mid-90s next week. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DAB 84 66 84 67 / 10 0 10 0 MCO 89 67 89 67 / 20 0 10 0 MLB 83 69 84 70 / 10 0 10 0 VRB 85 67 84 68 / 10 0 10 10 LEE 89 68 89 69 / 20 0 10 0 SFB 89 67 88 67 / 10 0 10 0 ORL 89 68 89 68 / 20 0 10 0 FPR 85 66 84 67 / 10 0 10 10 && .MLB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. AM...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Leahy LONG TERM...Haley AVIATION...Leahy