Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS New Orleans/Baton Rouge, LA
Issued by NWS New Orleans/Baton Rouge, LA
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130 FXUS64 KLIX 051745 AFDLIX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service New Orleans LA 1245 PM CDT Sun May 5 2024 ...New AVIATION... .SHORT TERM... (Today through Monday) Issued at 258 AM CDT Sun May 5 2024 Weak ridging remains over the area today and tomorrow, providing warm temperatures to continue to build over the area. The subsequent downstream surface high pressure over the Atlantic will keep providing warm and moist air advection into the area. The pumping in of warm and moist air at the surface will create adequate instability (>2000 j/kg SBCAPE) across the area ahead of a decaying storm complex from Texas. With the instability in place and the forcing from a potential outflow boundary from the storm complex, the western and northwestern portions of the area could see scattered thunderstorm development along the boundary. Those cells will be competing with the subsidence of the ridge, so that is mainly why the coverage should be scattered in nature. Needless to say, the CAPE and lack of wind shear with the suppression from the ridge supports maybe a strong storm or two, with a marginally severe storm possible in the early afternoon as the outflow from the complex passes through. Monday looks to similar to Sunday. Slight ridging is still expected to be over the area with continued onshore flow. The only discernible difference is that we will not have a decaying storm complex coming our way. So, although we will have adequate instability again (>2000 j/kg SBCAPE), a lack of a trigger like an outflow boundary and the suppression from the ridge will keep rain coverage very isolated to scattered at most. && .LONG TERM... (Monday night through Saturday) Issued at 258 AM CDT Sun May 5 2024 Much of the long term will be dominated by ridging over the northeast gulf. This will keep us mainly dry and and very warm over the next week. We will continue to get warmer and more humid over the week, with potential heat indices getting over 100 degrees Wednesday and Thursday. High temperatures are expected to be near or over 10 degrees warmer than average next Tuesday through Thursday. That first stretch of "summer-like" heat catches people off guard since we have not been acclimated to it yet, so make sure you`re not caught off guard by the first shot of summer heat. There is some indications that a cold front will make its way down here towards the end of the week on Friday. With it being 5+ days out, there is some uncertainty around this occurring. We are starting to get into that time of year where fronts stall out before making it this far south, so do not be surprised if that one does not make it down here. If it does, expects showers and thunderstorms along it with the very warm and moist air ahead of it and a slight cool down for the weekend into the upper 70s and low 80s. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1238 PM CDT Sun May 5 2024 Scattered low topped showers have begun to develop near MCB, BTR, and HDC over the past hour in tandem with increased daytime heating and low level instability. This low topped convection may briefly pass over a terminal and produce a short period of MVFR or IFR visibilities, but the impact is too minimal to include in the TAF. For now, have included VCSH wording to reflect this shower risk. Otherwise, prevailing VFR conditions and southerly winds of around 10 knots are expected through the evening hours. After 06z, conditions look favorable for some boundary decoupling to occur over inland areas, and have included IFR ceilings and visibilities in the forecast from 08z to 14z at MCB and BTR. At ASD and HDC, IFR conditions will be shorter in duration and more conditioned on how light boundary layer gets tonight. Given the lower probabilities for these terminals, have only included a TEMPO group between 09z and 13z for IFR ceilings and visibilities. The remainder of the terminals will see a mix of VFR and MVFR ceilings between 08z and 16z. && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 743 AM CDT Sun May 5 2024 The IFR ceilings and visibilities impacting the northern terminals are improving across those areas. Expect any of those issues to subside in the next hour or two as daytime heating mixes those issues out. Other than that, VFR conditions are expected to prevail at all terminals throughout the day today and into tonight. MCB could see VCTS this afternoon and evening, but most other terminals will be dry. Terminals with IFR conditions this morning should expect to see similar conditions tomorrow morning as low-level moisture continues to advect into the area. && .MARINE... Issued at 258 AM CDT Sun May 5 2024 The entire forecast period will be dominated by ridging and onshore flow. This will lead to fairly benign marine conditions for today and the upcoming week. There are indications of a potential frontal passage at the end of the week on Friday, but due to how far out it is and the time of year, there is a bit of uncertainty at this time for that. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MCB 66 85 69 88 / 20 30 0 20 BTR 71 88 73 91 / 20 30 0 10 ASD 71 88 72 90 / 10 20 0 10 MSY 73 87 75 89 / 10 20 0 10 GPT 72 84 73 85 / 10 20 0 10 PQL 70 86 71 88 / 10 20 0 10 && .LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...None. GM...None. MS...None. GM...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...JZ LONG TERM....JZ AVIATION...PG MARINE...JZ