Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Oklahoma City, OK
Issued by NWS Oklahoma City, OK
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648 FXUS64 KOUN 171105 AFDOUN Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Norman OK 605 AM CDT Tue Sep 17 2024 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 539 AM CDT Tue Sep 17 2024 - Thunderstorms will approach western/northwest Oklahoma this evening, though they will likely be weakening as they arrive. - A few storms are expected along the dryline in western and northern parts of the area tomorrow, with a low risk of damaging winds. - Hotter through the rest of the week before a possible pattern flip over the weekend. && .SHORT TERM... (Today and tonight) Issued at 239 AM CDT Tue Sep 17 2024 Near-term forecast will largely be quiet, with light easterly winds and clear skies for the rest of the night. Slightly higher moisture will advect in from eastern Oklahoma overnight, which will increase the potential for at least bands of stratus/locally favored radiation fog in the eastern part of our forecast area around daybreak. Otherwise, another mostly sunny afternoon is expected today with winds beginning to shift from east-southeasterly to more south- southeasterly. Highs will reach from the upper 80s in the eastern part of the area to the mid-90s out west. Precipitation chances look very low at least through about 7 pm. Toward the evening, a trough will eject into the central Plains, with at least glancing height falls reaching the southern High Plains. This should touch off a round of robust convection in the Raton Mesa which will consolidate and move eastward early tonight. How much we`re actually impacted by those storms is an open question - the wave lifts pretty far off to the north and convection-allowing guidance weakens storms dramatically as they approach northwest Oklahoma around midnight. However, it`s worth noting that that guidance (which has performed downright poorly over the last several days) shows the same signal for increasing instability late in the night as the LLJ begins to veer that we`ve seen in recent nights. All told, the chance for rain/storms tonight still seems to be low, but chances will be highest across northwest Oklahoma. Low temperatures will be higher as return flow starts to bring in modified Gulf air. Meister && .LONG TERM... (Wednesday through Monday) Issued at 239 AM CDT Tue Sep 17 2024 Return flow continues on Wednesday as broad southwest flow begins to finally erode at the northwest side of the Texas ridge. The dryline will mix eastward throughout the day toward the Caprock. Multiple pieces of guidance (notably the NAM 3km, NSSL WRF, MPAS, and RRFS) show storm development along and just east of the Caprock from the eastern Texas panhandle northeastward toward southern Kansas. Mid- level flow will be modest, but veering in the lower levels and abundant upper-level wind shear could very well promote some transient supercell structures early in the storms` lifecycles. Hail to the size of quarters will be possible early on, but the primary concern with storms will likely be damaging wind gusts as well-mixed boundary layers and dry mid-levels combine for about 1,600 DCAPE. This activity should start to wane in the evening and by early in the overnight. Highs on Wednesday will be warmer again, reaching the low to upper 90s across the area. Right now our official forecast suggests little-to-no chances for storms on Thursday. However, with the dryline mixing eastward again and NAM soundings suggesting an uncapped 1000-1500 MLCAPE just east of the dryline, this forecaster does not share the confidence in dry weather that the National Blend of Models holds. The period encompassing Thursday afternoon and evening in western and northern parts of the CWA will be watched as a potential forecasting target of opportunity. Otherwise, expect another step up in temperatures during the day on Thursday, with all locations seeing mid-90s to around 100 for the highs. After another hot day on Friday, attention will turn to the weekend as a potential period of more active weather. This will be driven by an upper-level low that right now is subjected to a fair amount of model uncertainty - some guidance tries to eject it well to our north, while other guidance would keep it much closer to us on Saturday. While details are thus somewhat unclear, it does appear as though late Saturday night may have to be watched as a particular period of note, with some models showing a Pacific front sweeping west to east and an unstable environment in front of it. Meister && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 539 AM CDT Tue Sep 17 2024 Area of mainly MVFR ceilings will make a run at the I-35 corridor this morning before retreating back to the east by late morning. Have included a tempo at SWO/OKC and prevailing at DUA with a period of IFR this morning. Otherwise, mainly VFR conditions through the day today with southeast winds. Some gusts across the west could exceed 20kts. There is a chance for a few shower/storms to impact WWR after 05Z this evening. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Oklahoma City OK 88 68 92 73 / 0 0 0 10 Hobart OK 94 69 97 74 / 0 10 0 20 Wichita Falls TX 95 70 98 74 / 0 0 0 0 Gage OK 94 67 96 70 / 0 30 20 20 Ponca City OK 90 67 93 72 / 0 0 10 10 Durant OK 88 68 93 72 / 0 0 0 0 && .OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...None. TX...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...04 LONG TERM....04 AVIATION...30