Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Indianapolis, IN

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645 FXUS63 KIND 051046 AFDIND Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Indianapolis IN 646 AM EDT Sun May 5 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Confidence continues to increase for severe weather potential both Tuesday and Wednesday. All hazards are possible, with damaging wind and large hail as the primary threat. - Heavy rain threat Monday through Wednesday. Flooding possible due to multiple rounds of convection. && .SHORT TERM (Today and tonight)... Issued at 258 AM EDT Sun May 5 2024 Low cloud cover has begun to spread across central Indiana early this morning mainly associated the remnants of a decaying MCS. Within these low clouds, isolated weak showers are possible, but most areas are expected to remain dry. Behind this MCS, a NW shift in winds and modest AVA upstream of a low level trough will be enough for low level height rises across the region. This should eventually create enough subsidence and mixing to erode the low level cloud cover. By the late morning, pockets of sunshine are expected, slowly becoming partly cloudy by the afternoon. The overall airmass is drier and cooler for Sunday, leading to a slight dip in temperatures; back into the mid to upper 70s for highs. During the day on Sunday, another shortwave is expected to develop over the mid-Mississippi Valley, centered within the diffluent region of the subtropical jet. This should push E/N into the Ohio Valley late today. Confidence is increasing the the aforementioned low level high will enough to suppress wave progression enough for central Indiana to remain dry through the daytime hours and through dusk. The greater source of lift within the wave looks tonight, with showers quickly developing over KY/IN border around midnight. Dry surface air will initially curtail precipitation onset, but continued lift and saturation should be enough for scattered showers prior to sunrise on Monday. && .LONG TERM (Monday through Saturday)... Issued at 258 AM EDT Sun May 5 2024 The main forecast concern in the extended is the potential for severe weather Tuesday and Wednesday. However, rain chances persist through most of the period due to the broad troughing aloft over the eastern CONUS. Anomalous moisture combined with the potential for multiple rounds of convection could also lead to heavy rainfall. Monday through Wednesday night... Showers and some thunderstorms will likely be ongoing at the beginning of the period as a shortwave trough moves through the region. Limited instability and deep-layer shear should inhibit any severe weather potential for Monday. Multiple embedded shortwaves within broad upper troughing are then expected to traverse the region Tuesday/Wednesday. Models still show some discrepancies regarding timing or location of any developing surface lows, but generally have become better aligned. The first potential round of severe weather looks to arrive sometime Tuesday afternoon into the evening as a surface wave approaches. Expect showers and storms to be ongoing early in the day within a warm air advection regime. Cannot rule out severe potential in the morning though the greatest threat should be later in the day as increasing low-level theta-e advection leads to stronger destabilization. In addition, guidance shows a mid-upper level jet moving in during the latter half of the day. Moderate to strong instability combined with increasing deep-layer shear supports the potential for organized convection. All hazards could be on the table for Tuesday though damaging winds and large hail appear to be the greatest threat at this time. Another round of severe weather is possible on Wednesday as a second surface low moves towards the region. CSU machine learning and CIPS analogs are more bullish with this setup, but uncertainties remain in the forecast. An important factor to the severe weather threat on Wednesday will depend on where the warm front associated with the surface low sets up. Generally models show the frontal boundary set up near central Indiana allowing for a moderate-strong unstable airmass to develop late in the day for at least portions of the area. Subtle ridging may limit convective potential through portions of the day, but increasing coverage of storms is expected late in the day as large scale ascent and warm moist advection increases. Strong deep-layer shear combined with the favorable unstable airmass will likely support organized convection posing a threat for all hazards. If the warm front sets up further south then the attendant severe threat would shift further south due to less destabilization so trends in the location of the low will have to be monitored closely in the coming days. Prior day convection also limits confidence some as this could impact the favorable parameter space. Heavy rainfall is a concern both Tuesday and Wednesday given the potential for multiple rounds of convection. Wednesday may have the greatest threat though with the aforementioned warm front potentially setting up west to east over central Indiana. This could lead to training convection. Thursday onward... Rain chances persist through the long term period as broad troughing remains aloft and broad cyclonic flow on the backside of the departing low. Cold air advection within northwest flow will lead to a cooler pattern heading into late week. By this point, it appears the severe threat should shift out of the region. && .AVIATION (12Z TAF Issuance)...
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Issued at 643 AM EDT Sun May 5 2024 Impacts: -MVFR cigs thru 17Z -Light Rain and MVFR Cigs Monday Discussion: Cloud cover will has increase with the arrival of MVFR cigs through the western half of Indiana (all TAF sites). These clouds will become scattered late this morning into the early afternoon, eventually lifting out for VFR flight conditions through 12Z Monday. Winds will generally be light and variable through the TAF period with a predominately NW to N direction.
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&& .IND WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Updike LONG TERM...Melo AVIATION...Updike