


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Riverton, WY
Issued by NWS Riverton, WY
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367 FXUS65 KRIW 151920 AFDRIW Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Riverton WY 120 PM MDT Tue Jul 15 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Widespread shower and thunderstorm chances (40-80%) east of the Continental Divide Tuesday afternoon and evening. Strong to severe thunderstorms will be capable of 60 mph winds, one inch diameter hail, and periods of heavy rainfall, with the best chance between 4 PM and 10 PM Tuesday. - Isolated to scattered virga showers/dry thunderstorms capable of 40-60 mph gusty outflows are possible west of the Divide Tuesday afternoon and evening, mainly after 3 PM. - A Red Flag Warning is in effect until 8 PM Tuesday for the far southwest due to gusty westerly wind, low relative humidity, and the potential for dry thunderstorms producing gusty and erratic outflows. - Rain chances end from west-to-east Wednesday afternoon and daytime highs Wednesday will be below normal. A warm-up begins Thursday and continues into the weekend with limited rain chances. && .UPDATE... Issued at 120 PM MDT Tue Jul 15 2025 The shortwave responsible for weak morning convection has tracked to our east, while the upstream vorticity maximum rotating across northwest Montana can be clearly seen in water vapor imagery at midday Tuesday. The moisture plume and associated 60-70kt jet is nearing northwest Wyoming, while a plume of 500-300mb moisture is moving across northern Utah and southwest Wyoming. Both plumes will aid convective development Tuesday afternoon and evening. SPC has a large portion of central Wyoming east of the Continental Divide in a slight risk for severe thunderstorms, along with portions of Lincoln County. Almost the entire forecast area is encompassed by a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms. The northern moisture plume and right-entrance region of the 60-70kt jet will ignite convection across northwest Wyoming after 2 PM Tuesday, with a likely notable increase in coverage and intensity between 3 PM and 6 PM. Morning cloud cover in upslope areas behind an early morning cold front has hindered surface heating delaying the onset of convection. SBCAPE rises to 800-1200 J/kg during the afternoon east of the Continental Divide, where dew points hover in the upper 40s to lower 50s. So, plenty of instability available as daytime heating increases by mid- afternoon. Thunderstorms move east across the central and northern basins between 4 and 8 PM, eventually pushing east of Interstate 25 around 9-10 PM. CAMS are all in fair agreement with the 4 to 8 PM period providing the best chance for strong to severe convection. Mid-level wind around 45-50kts favors the potential for severe wind gusts (15 percent), while there is a lower chance (5 percent) of one inch or larger hail. Proximity of the right entrance region and channeled vorticity enables convection to continue into early Wednesday and quite possibly overnight across the far north. Additionally, plentiful precipitable water values of 0.75 to 0.90 inches (around 120 percent of normal) east of the Divide enhance the potential for brief heavy rain. Convection should move east at about 20kts, but locations under training echoes anchored off terrain features, or urban areas, could be susceptible to nuisance flooding. Across southwest Wyoming, high-based convection favors gusty outflow wind of 40 to 60 mph. These winds are possible even from weak convection given a dry sub-cloud layer below about 500mb. CAMS indicate two rounds of convection across the southwest, one coming late Tuesday afternoon (3 to 6 PM) and another between 8 PM and midnight. In both rounds, wind will be the primary hazard. A few showers could linger south of Interstate 80 in Sweetwater County well into the night. General model trends have been toward less convection Wednesday afternoon as drier air filters into Wyoming in west-northwest flow aloft. However, the position of a lingering moisture plume stretched across southern Wyoming will better determine the outcome. Scattered convection erupts by early Wednesday afternoon over Sweetwater County, extending as far north as Natrona County. This plume is expected to shift southeast as the afternoon wears on. Other convection will primarily be anchored to the central and northern mountains. Overall, Wednesday is drier and cooler. Wednesday daytime highs are 65 to 75 east of the Divide, and 75 to 85 in the west. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 249 AM MDT Tue Jul 15 2025 Current (08Z) water vapor imagery shows an upper-level low circulating near the British Columbia/Idaho border. At the surface, a cold front extends from the upper low`s surface reflection and across Montana. These features will help drive today`s active weather. The upper-level low will gradually shift into the region through the day today. The surface cold front pushes south and situates itself roughly along the Divide by mid-morning. On the west side of the Divide, dry air and breezy westerly winds will create critical fire weather conditions this afternoon across portions of Sweetwater County where a Red Flag Warning has been issued. Whereas behind the front northerly winds will usher moisture to locations east of the Divide. Despite locations east of the Divide being behind the front, temperatures will stay warm due to 700mb temperatures between 10C- 12C and morning sunshine. By early afternoon, a shortwave ahead of the approaching upper-level low/trough combined with an associated 40-50kt supporting jet over northwest Wyoming will provide sufficient support aloft for widespread to numerous showers and thunderstorms, especially east of the Divide. Mean SBCAPE values range from 1000-1500 J/kg, lifted indices between -4C to -6C, and mean 0-6km shear between 30-50kts all helps create an unstable atmosphere east of the Divide during the afternoon and evening. These favorable upper-level dynamics and unstable low-levels will support strong to severe thunderstorms capable of at least 60 mph gusty winds and hail up to an inch. Thus, a Slight Risk (level 2/5) has been introduced for an area encompassing Fremont, Natrona, Johnson, Washakie, and Hot Springs Counties. However all other locations east of the Divide remain in a Marginal Risk (Level 1/5) for gusty winds around 60mph and isolated severe hail. Additionally, mean PWATs east of the Divide range from 1.00" to 1.15" which is close to the daily maximum PWAT. These abnormally high PWATs and deep warm cloud depths will favor heavy rainfall; however, only isolated instances of flash flooding potential exist given decent flow aloft to move thunderstorms. West of the Divide is not out of the clear for convection this afternoon either. Given the dry low-levels and inverted-V soundings with dewpoint depressions between 40-60 degrees, mostly virga showers and dry thunderstorms could create gusty 40-60 mph outflows, especially across Sweetwater County. The strong to severe threat diminishes through the evening as the upper-level trough treks across the region late tonight. However, there remains potential, mainly east of the Divide, for heavy rain due to support aloft from increased PVA associated with the trough, tall-skinny soundings, and abnormally high PWATs. Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms exist again on Wednesday with temperatures 20 to 25 degrees cooler than what we saw on Monday. Ensemble model guidance is in consensus that zonal flow aloft will be in place Thursday through the weekend. Warm and dry flow warms temperatures back up into the 80s to 90s with limited chances for showers and thunderstorms. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1143 AM MDT Tue Jul 15 2025 Low clouds this morning across northern WY (KCOD, KWRL, and KCPR terminals) continue to scatter out to start the period, lingering perhaps until 19Z at KCOD. Then, the focus shifts to widespread showers and thunderstorms by the later part of the afternoon. Given the atmospheric stability that exists following the AM inversions and low clouds, CAMs have been pushing timing of the initiation of showers and thunderstorms to later in the afternoon (22Z to 00Z) with the most likely chances occurring between 00Z and 03Z. Around 03Z a second round of showers moves through the region. Have included -SHRA for this second round, as earlier convection should stabilize things and limit TS after 03Z, but isolated embedded TS are certainly possible. Behind the showers and storms, a secondary cold front will move through overnight, which looks to bring low cigs to all terminals east of the Divide. MVFR to IFR cigs are likely (70% chance), with LIFR cigs possible at KCOD and KWRL (40% chance). Low clouds look to scatter out between 15Z to 17Z with KCOD, KCPR, and KWRL hanging onto the low clouds longest. Please see the Aviation Weather Center and/or CWSU ZDV and ZLC for the latest information on smoke, icing, and turbulence forecasts. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 120 PM MDT Tue Jul 15 2025 A Red Flag Warning is in effect for Zones 277 and 279 until 8 PM Tuesday due to west wind gusting 25 to 35 mph, relative humidity values 8 to 13 percent, and the potential for dry showers and thunderstorms producing gusty and erratic outflow wind gusts 40 to 60 mph. Dry thunderstorm potential steadily increases after 1 PM with higher confidence in dry thunderstorms after 5 PM. Although thunderstorms could continue past 8 PM, relative humidity values are expected to increase as a cold front pushes through with increased moisture. && .RIW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning until 8 PM MDT this evening for WYZ277-279. && $$ UPDATE...CNJ DISCUSSION...Gerhardt AVIATION...Hensley FIRE WEATHER...Gerhardt/CNJ