Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Indianapolis, IN

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000 FXUS63 KIND 141740 AFDIND Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Indianapolis IN 140 PM EDT Sun Apr 14 2024 .KEY MESSAGES...
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- An isolated thunderstorm possible east-central Indiana - Ongoing River Flooding - Multiple rounds of showers and storms this week, severe weather possible late Tuesday and Wednesday - Cooling trend late next week
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&& .SHORT TERM (This evening through Monday)...
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Issued at 140 PM EDT Sun Apr 14 2024 With the latest observations and short term model trends, it seems low-level moisture will be insufficient for convective initiation this far west at the peak of this diurnal cycle. Most/all of the convection should be relegated to Ohio and Pennsylvania ahead of the low-amplitude shortwave perturbation. Further west into Indiana, wake subsidence will maintain/enhance capping elevated mixed layer. It does not appear that convection will initiate via frontal convergence and diurnal destabilization alone, and would need large scale ascent and/or richer low-level moisture to overcome the hostile thermal profile. Some of the most aggressive HREF members do show convective cells behind the front after the peak of the diurnal cycle. This appears to be tied to moisture convergence near the boundary and moisture that is redistributed to the top of the mixed layer, so it may be the models` attempt at convection that fails due to capping and dry entrainment. We may see enhanced cumulus near the front and some glaciation on satellite with isolated brief showers, but sustained deep convection seems unlikely given our current analysis. Post-frontal air mass on Monday will be drier but only a few degrees cooler with light northeasterly winds. The front will stall across southern Indiana. With ridging and subsidence reinforcing the capping elevated mixed layer, thunderstorm development should be isolated Monday afternoon along the front. Richer low-level moisture will be present near the front, however, so chances of initiation are better than today. If the front stalls slightly further north than indicated now, our southernmost counties will be in play for isolated convection and so we will continue with low probabilities and "isolated" wording there.
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&& .LONG TERM (Monday night through Sunday)...
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Issued at 140 PM EDT Sun Apr 14 2024 Monday night, as warm advection strengthens preceding a mid-latitude system emerging onto the Plains, some convection will be possible near and north of the northward-moving warm front. Coverage should still be limited, however. Any warm advection-driven precipitation Tuesday morning should shift north of the area by afternoon placing us fully within the warm sector. Since large scale ascent will hold back to our west during the daytime, we will lower precipitation probabilities during the afternoon hours. Convective evolution upstream with Tuesday`s diurnal maxima is somewhat uncertain, but should be confined to near the Pacific front/dryline hybrid within the core of the warm conveyor belt and narrow rich moisture plume. The degree of upscale growth is in question but with the current model data it seems probable that a band of convection will enter Indiana by evening and progress eastward through the state overnight. Strong mid-upper flow elongating hodographs and the presence of at least a small amount of instability will be enough for some severe storm potential overnight, although convection may tend to outpace the instability and weaken as it moves into Indiana. Early on Wednesday, the weakening and increasingly stacked low is shown in models to be over Wisconsin with a trailing cold front moving through Indiana during the afternoon. Recent model cycles have slowed its progression. An axis of low-level moisture preceding this front coupled with diabatic surface heating should result in sufficient instability for convection Wednesday afternoon. Complicating factors from departing convection and wake subsidence, veering/unidirectional flow as low weakens and isallobaric component lessens, and frontal timing lead to an unclear picture of severe storm coverage and magnitude. Nevertheless, the general pattern is supportive of severe thunderstorms. A cooler and drier post-frontal air mass will arrive Thursday and continue into next weekend as a broad trough forms over Canada. Perturbations within fast westerlies at its southern periphery could bring low precipitation chances, mainly late Thursday into Friday. However, deeper moisture will be relegated to lower latitudes so coverage, intensity, and amounts will be limited.
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&& .AVIATION (18Z TAF Issuance)... Issued at 105 PM EDT Sun Apr 14 2024 Impacts: - Wind shift to north tonight Discussion: VFR conditions will prevail. Wind gusts should gradually decrease late today, and end this evening once mixing slows. A weak cold front will bring a wind shift to north-northeasterly late this evening into tonight. Forecast confidence on timing is moderate, but some minor adjustments to when specifically the wind shift occurs may be needed as we watch observational trends. && .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...BRB LONG TERM...BRB AVIATION...BRB

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