Quantitative Precipitation Forecast
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
581 FOUS30 KWBC 152016 QPFERD Excessive Rainfall Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 416 PM EDT Wed May 15 2024 Day 1 Valid 16Z Wed May 15 2024 - 12Z Thu May 16 2024 ...THERE IS A MARGINAL RISK OF EXCESSIVE RAINFALL FOR THE RED RIVER VALLEY OF THE NORTH REGION, PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL PLAINS, THE WESTERN APPALACHIANS, THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN FLORIDA PENINSULA, AND COASTAL SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND ... ...16Z Update... Only minor adjustments made to the bounds of the MRGL risk areas across the CONUS, but an additional small MRGL was included across portions of the Northeastern U.S (More on this in a separate sub- heading below). Recent trends in guidance support the maintenance of each area with the lowest threat residing over the Florida Peninsula as conditions for flash flood prospects deteriorate with the next 2-4 hours the primary time frame of interest. Shortwave pulse over the Gulf will move into the western shores of FL with locally heavy rainfall possible within the urban corridor spanning Clearwater down through Sarasota and points inland. Area FFG indices are still very high for all markers with the hourly FFG intervals still between 3.5-4" which will be the upper quartile of potential with the current setup. Expect the next update to be a removal of a the MRGL as conditions improve and the nocturnal period trends quieter for the Peninsula. Across the northern plains, a shortwave trough analyzed over northern SD will continue to progress eastward, becoming more defined as we step forward in time leading to focused ascent under the primary upper circulation. A tongue of elevated instability will situate itself over the ND/MN border with afternoon destabilization providing the initiation point for convection under the aforementioned trough. PWAT indices are slightly above normal with NAEFS anomalies pinning ~+1 deviation which would promote some locally enhanced rainfall concerns under the focused ascent. Relative QPF mean around 1-1.5" is forecast across the outlined area within the MRGL with a few hi-res deterministic peaking at 2-2.25" for the event, much of it falling within a span of 4-8 hrs. FFG`s are right on the cusp of the current forecast hourly rates and 3 to 6-hourly totals with the 12z HREF 5 and 10-year ARI exceedance probabilities nestled around 10% across the southeast ND into western MN. This is sufficient for a continuation of the MRGL risk area with the threat overall remaining isolated and more likely over any urbanized areas along the Red River. Marginal Risk area over the central and southern plains will maintain continuity with basically no change from the previous forecast package. Convection will initiate out over the TX Panhandle up through KS and translate east over the course of the late-afternoon and evening time frame. The primary location for flash flood potential is likely over southeastern KS and northeast OK where the HREF blended mean QPF signals between 1.75-2.5" of precip over the area with a bullseye to the northwest of Tulsa where the organized area of convection is forecast to ride along a tongue of higher theta-E`s, likely outlining the remnants of a weak warm front ahead of the primary surface reflection. More convection will also fire across the lee of the terrain in CO with an isolated risk of heavy rainfall within the corridor extending south of Denver through Pueblo. QPF forecast is modest within this zone, but 5 to 10-year ARI exceedance probabilities are between 15-20% within that zone, so the threat is certainly non-zero and within the lower-end of the MRGL risk threshold. Upper level circulation over northern KY will translate eastward through the period with scattered thunderstorms likely over portions of the Ohio Valley into the central Appalachians given the favorable upper ascent pattern and lingering moisture/instability presence over the interior. Scattered totals of 1-2" are plausible in this setup with pulse convection driving a bulk of the mean precip field. Steering pattern aloft will be lackluster, so any storms will be rooted in the same location over their lifespan leading to localized concerns of flooding, especially within the complex terrain of WV, southwest VA, and western NC. 10-year ARI exceedance probs are generally 10-15% within the terrain, which is plenty to maintain the current MRGL risk in place. ...Eastern Long Island into Coastal Southern New England... Visible satellite and radar composite indicate a maturing surface cyclone along the eastern seaboard with the general circulation positioned over the southern Delmarva with an expected track to the northeast through the period. Cyclone will produce a period of moderate rain as it pivots up the east coast, eventually occluding as it stalls south of LI as the primary upper trough over the Ohio Valley finally catches up with the surface reflection and becomes vertically stacked just offshore. A persistent east to northeast fetch off the Atlantic will spur a period of moderate to heavy rain anchored over the eastern half of LI up through southern CT/RI/SE MA. Model guidance has really ramped up the precip totals in the current suite with some 2-3+" totals now being reflected within the individual outputs, and around 1.5-2" within the HREF means. A tongue of elevated instability will wrap into the aforementioned areas this evening as the storm occludes and the warm conveyor gets oriented to the coastal plain as the storm begins its occlusion phase. Some isolated thunder will be plausible during the very back end of the forecast period between 06-12z tomorrow morning with rates peaking at 0.5-1"/hr before finally settling just after the D1 time frame. With collaboration from the local WFO`s in the region, a MRGL risk was introduced for a low-end flash flood threat overnight into early tomorrow morning. Kleebauer ...Previous Discussion... ...Red River Valley of the North... A deepening shortwave trough in the polar jet will dip south into the Dakotas and Minnesota later today into tonight. This will support some modest cyclogenesis of a small surface low. The low will focus an area of persistent rain in the comma-head region of north and west of the center. During the day, diurnal heating will support some modest instability, allowing convection to develop in the area. Once the sun goes down and the convection largely dissipates, steady stratiform rain will continue into northwestern Minnesota. Soils in this area are about average for this time of year, but the persistent rains some of which may be briefly heavy will support an isolated flash flooding threat. A Marginal Risk area was introduced with this update. ...Central Plains... A developing front between 2 opposing air masses across the Central Plains will be the focus for convection today and especially into tonight across northeastern Oklahoma. To the north, drier air traveling southbound down the Plains will collide with a weak LLJ of warmer and moister air. Showers and thunderstorms will develop along this boundary, tracking east with time. Soils are at or above normal in this area for this time of year, with the wettest soils into northeastern Oklahoma. The inherited Marginal was adjusted, largely to remove most of western Kansas, which will both be on the dry side of the boundary and also have very dry soils for this time of year. Easterly flow into the mountains of Colorado will upslope along the Front Range, so areas south of Denver, including Colorado Springs remain in the Marginal Risk area. ...Western Appalachians... The inherited Marginal across West Virginia was expanded both north into eastern OH and western PA, and also south into southwest VA and NC. Almost all of the resultant convection will be diurnally driven and largely disorganized. However, much of the Marginal Risk area has low FFGs so any stronger storms will be slow moving and capable of isolated flash flooding. The storms will be most focused in the Marginal Risk area along a weak deformation zone in the upper atmosphere, with largely chaotic or no movement. ...Central and Northern Florida Peninsula... Ongoing convection in the Marginal Risk area will continue growing upscale into a larger line of storms that will track east across the Peninsula through the morning. Training storms will be possible in the fast westerly flow across the Peninsula as they tap additional moisture ahead of a trough associated with an upper low over the Ohio Valley. Abundant moisture available for the storms to feed on will support higher rainfall rates, but accelerating storm motion, dry antecedent soil conditions, and weakening of the line by midday should keep any flash flooding isolated, particularly in urban and poor-drainage areas. Wegman Day 2 Valid 12Z Fri May 17 2024 - 12Z Sat May 18 2024 ...THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF EXCESSIVE RAINFALL FROM THE PINEY WOODS OF TEXAS TO SOUTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI... ...20Z Update... The overall synoptic pattern has maintained continuity in the expected evolution and subsequent convective development through the course of the D2 window. The biggest change is a slow move to an agreement on where the heaviest precip will transpire with the discrepancy in the position of the QPF max now mainly within a span of 50-75 miles latitudinally. Recent ensemble blends and bias corrected QPF distribution highlights the area from the Piney Woods of TX through central LA as the primary focal point of heaviest precip during the time frame beginning 18z Thursday through early Friday morning as the shortwave and surface low responsible translates eastward with the best axis of convection likely following the fringe a prominent theta-E gradient located from the Gulf coast up through central and eastern TX. Cell initiation upstream over north TX will quickly grow upscale and propagate to the east-southeast with heavy rainfall falling in its wake as it moves through central TX. A higher-end SLGT risk is expected within the I-35 corridor, including the DFW metroplex and surrounding locales as 1-2"/hr rates within the organized convective cluster are increasingly likely with the latest HREF neighborhood probabilities signaling upwards of 50% for rates over 1"/hr and low-end probabilities for up to 2"/hr with the best threat south of the metro. From there, sufficient instability and increasing sheared profiles from local forecast soundings over southeastern TX indicate an environment favorable for updraft maintenance and moisture convergence ahead of the propagating cold pool generated by the upstream convection. Totals of 3-5" with locally higher amounts are forecast within a zone extending from 20 miles east of Austin all the way through central LA to the LA/MS border with the northern and southern bounds extending ~50-75 miles on either side. This is reflective of the minor uncertainty in the latitudinal push of the organized area of thunderstorms as it moves southeastward, but well within the prospects based on the latest probabilities for at least 2" and 3". The area of greatest concern continues to be the stretch from Bryan/College Station over through Huntsville and the Lake Livingston area north of Houston where local FFGs are hovering around an abysmal 1" for hourly rate exceedance with current probabilities for at least 1"/hr are now within the 60-80% range, and 2"/hr and 3"/hr probabilities locally above 25% over parts of east TX through western LA. As a result, this stretch is within a higher-end MDT risk with a chance at a future High Risk update if the forecast reflects higher confidence in the positioning of the heaviest QPF footprint, and/or the upper quartile of potential QPF increases further over the most prone area(s). A few other changes reflected in the current update include a tighter confined area of the SLGT risk across the southern plains over into the Lower Mississippi Valley, and an expansion of the MRGL risk into NM to reflect some convective development under the guide of the mean shortwave trough traversing out of the Southwestern U.S. Totals are generally around 0.5-1" over the higher terrain of central and southeast NM, but enough large scale ascent and modest instability focused under the general circulation could produce a few "over-performing" cells that could expel 1-2" of precip in a short period of time. Mean storm motions will be slow, so the prospects increase slightly with meandering convective development, and is plausible under the propagating mid-level trough. Kleebauer ...Previous Discussion... ...Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley... Little has changed in the convective evolution and overall setup across eastern Texas over to southwestern Mississippi Thursday. The nose of a 100 kt jet will push a strong shortwave trough eastward across the region, increasing divergence aloft ahead of the shortwave. At the surface, a strong and very moisture-laden air mass originating in the Gulf will surge northward into a front that will quickly become a warm front as the LLJ pushes northeastward. The warm front will support continuous convection as the moisture- laden air mass rides up the frontal interface. A cold front following behind it associated with the progressive shortwave trough will enhance lift on the back/west side of the warm sector. This will support development of an MCS, which will it will have a decently quick forward speed...will support backbuilding and training strong thunderstorms capable of very heavy rain, particularly across Texas during the day, then shifting into Louisiana and Mississippi overnight Thursday night. Soils across the Piney Woods and into western Louisiana are very saturated from multiple weeks of heavy rain. The Piney Woods have the bullseye, picking up as much as 20 inches of rain in the last 2 weeks alone. Multiple rounds of strong and training convection capable of rainfall rates as high as 3 inches per hour over especially this hard-hit area...but really much of the South...spells a nightmare scenario for the area. Significant and considerable flash flooding is likely as a result, as multiple inches of rain fall in a matter of a few hours. The area is considered in a higher-end Moderate risk, where the probability of flash flooding is between 55 and 70 percent. The one piece of good news is that guidance is little changed on the magnitude of the event, generally expecting between 3 and 5 inches of storm total rainfall, albeit in a short time. By Thursday night, the MCS will pick up some forward speed as it moves across Louisiana and eventually Mississippi. While this will modestly decrease expected storm total rainfall in this area...the abundance of moisture in the LLJ will continue to support convection capable of very heavy rainfall, and while most of northern Louisiana and southwest Mississippi hasn`t seen quite as much rain in recent weeks as east Texas, there has still been 300 to 400 percent of normal rainfall in the area the past few weeks, so soils are similarly fully saturated, so all rainfall will convert to runoff. Thus, a lower-end Moderate continues for most of northeast Louisiana and with model guidance now suggesting the rain extends into Mississippi by Friday morning. The Moderate Risk was expanded eastward to account for this change, in coordination with LIX/Slidell, LA and JAN/Jackson, MS forecast offices. There remains some uncertainty in the guidance as to where exactly this axis of heaviest rainfall along the warm front will set up. The American models remain big outliers, but have been very slowly "catching up" to the rest of the model suite. As such, once again they have been largely tossed from the forecast. The 06Z HRRR suggests the axis of heaviest rainfall may be a bit south and west of the current Moderate Risk area, so additional changes to the forecast are likely in coming days. Unfortunately even the 06Z HRRR scenario does not spare the Piney Woods from multiple inches of rain. Further north into Oklahoma, the boundary that will serve as a focus for convection on Day 1/today will still be draped across the area and largely stationary on Day 2/Thursday. Guidance remains highly variable in how much convection develops again here, particularly Thursday night, but given expected rainfall in the area on Day 1/today, it`s likely that soils will be more saturated than now by this second round Thursday night. Thus, the area was upgraded to a Slight with this update. Wegman Day 3 Valid 12Z Fri May 17 2024 - 12Z Sat May 18 2024 ...THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF EXCESSIVE RAINFALL FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHWESTERN ALABAMA... ...20Z Update... The D3 forecast had only minor changes to the overall risk areas due to lingering uncertainty carrying out of the D2 period with what occurs upstream. A complicated pattern relies heavily on what transpires across TX and the Lower Mississippi Valley before shifting eastward into the Deep South. The current forecast has some deviation in how the convective complex upstream holds together as it enters the Southeast, as well as some discrepancies on the handling of a secondary shortwave ejection out of the sub- tropical jet later Friday that could re-introduce more convective chances across the Gulf coast from southeastern LA through southern MS/AL. Current ML output is fixated on the southern periphery of guidance, likely due to the bias reflected in the expected axis of instability. Ensemble means are pretty prolific between 2.5-4" with the bias corrected QPF upwards of 5-6" located over the southern portions of MS/AL which is very close to where the AI QPF footprint is located. The pattern screams very heavy rainfall somewhere between the I-20 corridor to the immediate coast given the forecasted progression of the frontal boundary and correlated instability axis along and south of the front in question. Given the latest ensemble orientation and magnitude of expected rainfall, there was plenty justification for maintaining continuity with some minor adjustments based on the latest QPF trends. Kleebauer ...Previous Discussion... ...Southern Mississippi and Southwestern Alabama... By the start of the period 12Z Friday morning, a strong LLJ originating out of the Gulf and advecting air with PWATs above 2 inches into the Gulf Coast will be oriented southwest to northeast. The strong southwesterly flow will not abate much, keeping a steady supply of fuel into the ongoing thunderstorms moving across Mississippi and into Alabama. The MCS will weaken with daytime heating, as typically occurs, so expected rainfall will drop off into southeast Alabama and most of the Florida Panhandle. The dissipation of the MCS with the first round of storms will mean the LLJ will stall out and stop progressing east. On Friday night, a trailing upper level shortwave, which will be deeper than the first, stronger, and slower-moving will drag a cold front east, which should allow for renewed eastward movement of the moisture-plume for a time, but will be the animus for a second round of strong showers and thunderstorms across southern Mississippi and Alabama as the moisture plume is initially drawn back to the north and west as the cold front and associated storms approach. As the second round will quite probably produce more rain than the first, any flash flooding started with the first round of storms will be greatly worsened by the second. Soils across this area are very wet from storms as recently as yesterday, so all of the rain that falls from both rounds of storms will convert to runoff. Flash flooding is likely and significant flash flooding is possible. One positive is that we are in the heart of growing season and the soils are generally flood- resistant. However, this will be offset by the 2-3 inch per hour rainfall rates that will be quite possible with the strongest storms. Urban and poor drainage areas are at greatest risk for flash flooding. In coordination with MOB/Mobile, AL and JAN/Jackson, MS forecast offices, a Moderate Risk upgrade was introduced with this update. It`s quite possible heavy rain may spread more into central Alabama, but since these kinds of convective events tend to trend southward with time and central Alabama is on the northern fringe of the heaviest rainfall, held those portions of Alabama including Montgomery, in a Slight for this update. Should trends indeed evolve southward with time, then the hardest hit areas from today, including Gulfport, Mobile, and Pensacola could all be in line for a second round of flash flooding. Fortunately, most of the Moderate Risk area is in relatively low population areas, which should limit overall impacts somewhat. ...Mississippi and Ohio Rivers Confluence Region... In coordination with SGF/Springfield, MO, PAH/Paducah, KY and LSX/St. Louis, MO forecast offices, a Slight Risk upgrade was introduced with this update for the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers Confluence region. Guidance has been somewhat consistent for a few days now that a secondary area of showers and storms associated with a shortwave trough tracking across the area will be capable of widely scattered instances of flash flooding. The area has seen wetter soils from rainfall both yesterday and expected over the coming days, such that by Day 3/Friday, flash flooding will be more likely as the storms track along with an advancing cold front across the region. Wegman Day 1 threat area: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/94epoints.txt Day 2 threat area: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/98epoints.txt Day 3 threat area: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/99epoints.txt