Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Boston, MA

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577 FXUS61 KBOX 012345 AFDBOX Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Boston/Norton MA 745 PM EDT Wed May 1 2024 .SYNOPSIS...
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A weak low pressure will bring scattered showers near the coast Thursday. High pressure north of our region will bring dry and seasonable weather Friday and most of Saturday with onshore winds. An approaching front should bring showers late Saturday into Sunday. Dry and warmer weather is expected early next week.
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&& .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM THURSDAY MORNING/...
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Loss of daytime heating is leading to clearing skies this evening. However, stratus was lurking just offshore. This stratus is expected to return later tonight once the flow turns first light SE then S. Will also need the boundary layer to cool a little bit, decreasing the dew point depressions. Mainly dry overnight, except for the risk of some passing showers towards daybreak across the eastern half of MA. Previous Discussion... Mainly dry the rest of today with a low chance for an isolated shower across the Berkshires and CT river valley this afternoon as 100-200 J/kg of SBCAPE builds with some sunshine. Low clouds and pockets of fog form again overnight as surface winds turn south and bring in low level moisture. Overnight lows again stay in the mid to upper 40s with low cloud cover and weak warm air advection.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/...
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Tomorrow: Shortwave trough and associated surface low drops south from northern New England. An area of light showers associated with a cold front move through tomorrow morning, however, guidance is mixed on the extent south and intensity of these showers. The best forcing for showers looks to mainly stay confined to northeast MA. Later in the afternoon, the center of the low pressure and core of shortwave energy passes over eastern MA. At this point, 100-200 J/kg of MUCAPE will be able to build, allowing for isolated convective showers to form across eastern MA, with the best chance over northeast MA again. With the low amount of instability, there is a low chance for a rumble of thunder with any showers tomorrow afternoon. Confidence was not high enough to include mention in the forecast database at this point. High temperatures have trended warmer tomorrow with SSW flow, and increasing chances for sunny to partly sunny skies across western MA and CT. Stuck with the NBM for temperatures tomorrow with highs in the mid to upper 70s in the CT river valley, and upper 60s to low 70s in RI and Eastern MA away from the coasts. Tomorrow night: Winds shift NE overnight as the center of the low moves south offshore and high pressure builds in to the north. This will bring all the low clouds and fog back onshore, eventually pushing west over much of the region. This keeps low temps mild once again only dropping into the upper 40s to low 50s. Rain and shower chances quickly decrease as the low exits and upper level ridge builds in.
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&& .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
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Key Points: * Overall quiet weather pattern ahead * Scattered showers late Saturday into Sunday * Warmup early next week Still have the greatest confidence in dry weather persisting through most of Saturday. Still some disagreement in when showers could arrive late Saturday into Sunday. Both the 01/12Z GFS and CMC suggest at least a risk for showers along the east coast of MA late Saturday afternoon, while the larger NationalBlend ensemble maintains dry weather for the same time frame. Given the synoptic pattern, with a high pressure just to the east of New England, favoring the drier NationalBlend solution into Saturday night. This still pushes the focus for weekend showers into Sunday. Trickier forecast for earlier next week. Latest guidance suite still exhibited some timing and amplitude differences with the evolution of a mid level longwave trough near the Rockies. This will eventually impact our weather downstream. Our proximity to a surface front will be critical to our forecast outcome. At present, thinking this front will be pushed far enough south where mainly dry weather prevails Monday and Tuesday, before returning north as a warm front some time Tuesday night into Wednesday. Near normal temperatures expected through Saturday, before briefly trending below normal Sunday. Likely to see above normal temperatures early next week.
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&& .AVIATION /00Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...
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Forecast Confidence Levels: Low - less than 30 percent. Moderate - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. Tonight: Moderate Confidence VFR/MVFR becoming IFR/LIFR late overnight before sunrise. Tomorrow: Moderate Confidence Slow improvements of IFR to MVFR in the morning. A passing low could bring light showers, especially to NE terminals tomorrow morning into the afternoon. Western terminals will see CIGS reach VFR tomorrow afternoon, while eastern terminals, especially Cape Cod and the Islands, could get stuck with MVFR/IFR. Thursday Night: VFR/MVFR in the west, with IFR/LIFR filling back in the east. KBOS TAF...Moderate confidence Higher confidence at IFR/LIFR CIGS working back in overnight before sunrise, lasting into the late morning. A passing low could bring light showers tomorrow morning into the afternoon. KBDL TAF...Moderate confidence. Expecting CIGS to drop back to MVFR, then IFR again overnight before improving again tomorrow morning. VFR again by tomorrow afternoon. Outlook /Friday through Monday/... Friday: Mainly VFR, with local MVFR possible. Friday Night: VFR. Saturday: Mainly VFR, with local MVFR possible. Saturday Night: Mainly VFR, with local IFR possible. Slight chance SHRA. Sunday: MVFR/IFR conditions possible. Chance SHRA. Sunday Night: Mainly VFR, with areas IFR possible. Chance SHRA. Monday: VFR.
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&& .MARINE...
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Forecaster Confidence Levels: Low - less than 30 percent. Medium - 30 to 60 percent. High - greater than 60 percent. Tonight: Winds shift south tonight remaining 10 knots or less with calm seas. Tomorrow: Weak low pressure brings scattered showers and a low chance for a rumble of thunder mainly across the northern waters. Winds remain south at 10-15 knots gusting 20 knots. Light seas of 1-3 feet. Tomorrow night: Low clouds and fog possible overnight. Winds turn ENE again at 5-10 knots and seas remain 1-3 feet. Outlook /Friday through Monday/... Friday through Saturday: Winds less than 25 kt. Saturday Night: Winds less than 25 kt. Slight chance of rain showers. Sunday: Winds less than 25 kt. Chance of rain showers. Sunday Night: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Chance of rain showers. Monday: Winds less than 25 kt. Seas locally approaching 5 ft. Slight chance of rain showers.
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&& .BOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. MA...None. RI...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Belk/KP NEAR TERM...Belk/KP SHORT TERM...KP LONG TERM...Belk AVIATION...Belk/KP MARINE...Belk/KP