Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Knoxville/Tri Cities, TN

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859 FXUS64 KMRX 010518 AAA AFDMRX Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Morristown TN 118 AM EDT Wed May 1 2024 ...New AVIATION... .UPDATE... Issued at 1045 PM EDT Tue Apr 30 2024 The wait now begins for lowering ceilings and visibility overnight. The rainfall earlier and conditions changing to a high pressure dominant regime, leads one to think there`s a good possibility of fog and patchy dense fog. Currently, there are a lot of locations at 100% RH and some are already experiencing lowering visibility such as, Jonesville, Jacksboro, Dayton, and Cleveland. Have not gone with an advisory or SPS with this update, as confidence isn`t all there on how widespread 1/4SM will be. Stay tuned overnight as the next forecast package will be issued mid-morning. As far as the forecast, tweaks were done to weather elements that would ultimately affect the likelihood of fog overnight (hourlies, wind, clouds, PoP, etc.). Other than that, no major changes to note as the inherited forecast is on track. KS && .SHORT TERM... (This evening through Wednesday) Issued at 318 PM EDT Tue Apr 30 2024 Key Messages: 1. Scattered showers continuing into the late afternoon hours, then dry overnight. 2. Dense fog possible tonight into Wednesday morning. 3. Very warm on Wednesday. Discussion: Radar imagery and surface obs show a weak, compact surface low over the northern plateau this afternoon with an associated front extending south into the southern TN valley. This will continue to be a focus for additional shower development into the late afternoon hours, mainly near or north of the I-40 corridor, as it shifts east with time. Currently have some scattered showers over the northern plateau associated with this feature, and expect further increase in coverage eastward through roughly 21z before diurnal trends takeover and precip dies off. Model soundings do show some instability present this afternoon, but think any rumbles of thunder will be very isolated. For tonight, surface high pressure will build in after midnight. Soundings show mid level drying accompanying this surface high building in, allowing for clearing skies and very good radiational conditions for fog development. Could easily see the need for a dense fog advisory overnight. But I would say that there`s enough variability in visibility fields of model guidance that I`m not confident enough to hoist one up at the time. I feel quite confident in saying that there will be some dense fog, it is more so a question of onset and how widespread it will become. Thursday looks dry, and very warm. Upper ridging will build in quickly, with H85 temperatures warming into the mid teens and significant drying of the air mass taking place as PWATs fall from around 1.3" this afternoon to around 0.7" tomorrow. Expect to see highs rise into the upper 80s as a result. I`d like to return these temperatures to sender, but I don`t have that authority. && .LONG TERM... (Wednesday night through next Tuesday) Issued at 318 PM EDT Tue Apr 30 2024 Key Messages: 1. Continued normal to above normal temperatures into next week, with the warmest day currently looking to be Thursday. 2. Unsettled pattern with chances for showers and thunderstorms expected Friday into early next week. Discussion: Via NAEFS Standardized Anomaly tables, upper level heights on a range of +1 to 2 standard deviations will allow for above normal temperatures by the latter half of the week. High temperatures Thursday may fall just a few degrees shy of daily high maximums. Subsidence associated with ridging aloft will also keep conditions dry Thursday. The ridge axis will be guided eastward as upper troughing moves into the north-central CONUS, with a surface low in the Canadian province of Ontario. An approaching surface boundary will lead to increasing PoP chances Friday into the weekend. The distant nature from the parent low will result in a rather slow moving boundary, thus, PoPs will linger through the weekend. Mean ensemble guidance suggest a range of 20-60% chance of CAPE greater than or equal to 500J/kg during peak heating Friday and Saturday. For this reason, rumbles of thunder will be possible at times as well. Given high PWAT value of 1.2-1.5 inches, will keep an eye on the potential of isolated flooding with any training convection and low probability wording will be utilized in the HWO. Much more uncertainty comes into play by the end of the weekend and into the new week as notable differences exist between operational long-term models. Generally, a secondary area of low pressure is expected to develop during this time frame, with low confidence on the location and timing. While not currently expecting it to rain the whole time, shower/tstorm chances will lingering through the remainder of the long term period. Temperatures are expected to remain near to above normal, though day-to-day fluctuations are expected based on the coverage of rain and clouds. && .AVIATION...
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(06Z TAFS) Issued at 116 AM EDT Wed May 1 2024 Dense fog will be the main impact at all sites this morning. 1/4SM with VV001 is expected to develop between 08-10Z. Many obs across the area are already showing this, so confidence is fairly high. Fog should lift between 13-15Z, with SKC and light winds the rest of the period.
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&& .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
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Chattanooga Airport, TN 85 59 88 65 / 0 0 0 10 Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport, TN 81 56 87 62 / 0 0 0 0 Oak Ridge, TN 82 57 87 62 / 0 0 0 0 Tri Cities Airport, TN 79 53 85 57 / 0 0 0 0
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&& .MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. TN...NONE. VA...NONE. && $$ SHORT TERM...CD LONG TERM....KRS AVIATION...DGS