Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Albany, NY

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847 FXUS61 KALY 291751 AFDALY AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Albany NY 151 PM EDT Mon Apr 29 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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A frontal boundary will be lifting back northward for tonight, allowing for some spotty showers overnight. A stronger disturbance will allow for some additional showers and thunderstorms for later Tuesday into Tuesday evening. Drier weather will return for Wednesday with seasonable temperatures.
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&& .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/...
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As of 151 PM EDT...Stalled frontal boundary continues to be located across the Catskills, mid Hudson Valley and across western New England. To the south of the boundary, skies are still partly to mostly sunny, with temps well into the 70s and dewpoints in the 60s. Meanwhile, areas to the north, including the Capital Region, are still mainly in the 50s, with widespread low clouds and northerly winds. This front will remain stationary, perhaps briefly settling southward this evening towards the lower Hudson Valley. While there had been some showers earlier this morning over nothern areas, all precip has ended. Radar trends and CAMs suggest it should stay dry through the rest of the day, although some showers may start to develop towards evening for locations south and west of the CWA. With the boundary across the area, there will continue to be a big spread in max temps for this afternoon. Across areas north of the front, temps are generally expected in the 50s to low 60s for these areas. It will remain milder for far southern areas through the day. Although it`s been cloudy so far today, some more breaks of sun are possible by afternoon for the Capital Region, although it`s unclear if this sun will be able to make much of a difference after the cool and cloudy start on the backside of the front.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... Low level ridge axis shifts east of our region and west to southwest boundary layer flow spreads through the region. Stronger warm advection and moisture advection along with increasing low level convergence will result in weak instability in our region by late this afternoon and evening. Better instability in PA and central NY could support development of some showers and isolated thunderstorms where the thermal and moisture gradient is a little tighter along the leading edge of the warm advection. Sources of guidance show a general consensus for some of that rain to track into our region tonight but coverage is very much in question. So, including scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms tonight, until we see what develops this afternoon and can track it. Upper energy tracking through the flat upper ridging in the eastern U.S. will weaken as it tracks across northern areas Tuesday through Wednesday. The associated leading edge of low level cold advection and wind shift is expected to track through our region Tuesday afternoon and evening. Some instability in our region, especially from the eastern Catskills through mid Hudson Valley and NW CT, will support showers and isolated thunderstorms. There are some signals that midlevel lapse rates could be somewhat steep in those areas. So, we will have to keep an eye on some potential for stronger thunderstorms there. Isolated thunderstorms are possible across the entire region but again, the potential stronger thunderstorms could be in southern areas. Highs Tuesday in the 60s to around 70, but warmer if there are some persistent breaks in the clouds in the morning and early afternoon. The upper energy and associated cold front will be slow to exit and showers and isolated thunderstorms will linger into Tuesday night. Clouds and some isolated showers could linger into Wednesday morning, with clouds slow to break up through Wednesday. There are disagreements in sources of guidance/ensembles for rain chances Wednesday afternoon and night as warm advection begins again and strengthens with increasing low level forcing and moisture. The majority of guidance suggests isolated showers at best and the upper pattern and wind flow supports the more isolated activity at best. Highs Wednesday in the mid to upper 60s, with some lower 60s in higher terrain. Lows Wednesday night in the upper 40s to lower 50s. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... Long term begins at 12z Thursday with upper ridging amplifying to the west of our area and surface high pressure off to our north and west. Most sources of guidance suggest a fairly potent upper shortwave will ride up and over top of the ridge Thursday, although its exact track in relation to our forecast area remains somewhat of a question. The current consensus is for this feature to track north and east of our region. This could result in a few showers for the upper Hudson Valley into western New England. However, a track further south would result in showers spreading further southwest into our CWA. There may also be a relatively tight thermal gradient that sets up across our region, with temperatures well into the 70s for the Mid Hudson Valley yet only in the low 60s across portions of VT, especially in the higher elevations. As this shortwave moves off to our east Thursday afternoon and evening, the upper ridge continues to amplify through Friday night as it slowly shifts eastwards over our region. A ridge of high pressure at the surface will build southwards into our region, and subsidence associated with these features should result in mainly dry conditions Thursday night through Friday night. Lows will be in the 40s to 50s Thursday and Friday nights with highs Friday a degree or two cooler than those on Thursday. The next chance for precipitation comes over the weekend as a vertically stacked surface low tracks from the upper Midwest into Canada and its occluded front approaches from the west. There is still some uncertainty on how quickly an occluded front tracks into the region and thus how quickly precip moves in. Given the uncertainty, have gone near NBM guidance which brings chance PoPs into the region Saturday, although given the upper ridging overhead and the fact that the best upper forcing is well off to our west would not be surprised to see a slower Euro-like solution verify. If this were indeed the case, much of Saturday could be dry with better chances for showers on Sunday. If the frontal passage coincides with peak daytime heating, then a few rumbles of thunder would also be possible. Temperatures over the weekend generally be in the 60s for daytime highs and 40s to 50s at night. For days 8-14, the CPC is expecting below normal temperatures and near normal precip. && .AVIATION /18Z MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/...
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Flying conditions are generally VFR for the valley sites, with MVFR ceilings at the higher elevation site of KPSF. A frontal boundary is located close to the region and this front will remain stalled over the area through the late evening hours, before returning back northward as a warm front for the overnight hours. While it should stay dry through this evening, some showers may develop along this front overnight, although activity will be fairly spotty. A light northerly wind through this evening with become easterly at light speeds for the overnight. Some additional showers or thunderstorms may be possible on Tuesday, although it may not be until late in the day (after the TAF period ending at 18z Tuesday). Based on model soundings, will be expecting low stratus to re-develop overnight as the front lifts northward. Will allow for MVFR ceilings for all sites for the overnight hours, with ovc cigs around 2-3 kft. On Tuesday morning, flying conditions will continue to remain MVFR for all sites, with a moist southeasterly winds developing at 5 to 10 kts for all TAF sites. Outlook... Tuesday Night: High Operational Impact. Likely SHRA...TSRA. Wednesday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA. Wednesday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Thursday: Low Operational Impact. Slight Chance of SHRA. Thursday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Friday: Low Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Friday Night: Low Operational Impact. Slight Chance of SHRA. Saturday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA.
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&& .HYDROLOGY...
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Mainly dry weather will continue through the evening hours. Overnight, some spotty showers are possible along a stalled boundary across southern areas and this front will be slowly heading back northward as a warm front. A stray thunderstorm can`t be ruled out overnight along this front, but it should be fairly isolated. After a dry start to Tuesday, more showers and thunderstorms are expected by later in the day as a frontal boundary approaches from the west. The low level flow out of the south will bring in plenty of moisture into the region ahead of the boundary, although dewpoints and PWATs won`t be overly excessive for this time of year. Still, the strong forcing should allow for a fairly widespread areas of showers and thunderstorms. Some of these showers and thunderstorms may contain heavy downpours, which could lead to ponding of water in urban or low lying areas. WPC has placed much of the region within a Marginal Risk for Excessive Rainfall during this period. Overall, rainfall amounts will generally be under an inch and no flooding of main stem rivers is expected.
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&& .ALY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. MA...None. VT...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Frugis NEAR TERM...Frugis SHORT TERM...NAS LONG TERM...Main AVIATION...Frugis HYDROLOGY...Frugis