Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Dodge City, KS
Issued by NWS Dodge City, KS
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168 FXUS63 KDDC 120530 AFDDDC Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Dodge City KS 1230 AM CDT Sun May 12 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Periods of beneficial rainfall are expected Saturday night through Monday morning. Rainfall amounts of 0.50 to 0.75 are expected. - Strong to marginally severe thunderstorms are possible Sunday afternoon and evening, with marginally severe hail possible. - Additional rainfall opportunities are expected Wednesday. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH MONDAY/... Issued at 225 PM CDT Sat May 11 2024 An upper low over the Desert Southwest will approach the high plains this evening and overnight, with mid level warm advection developing. One batch of forcing will arrive this evening, with rain developing across west central and far southwest Kansas. Rain showers will then spread eastward during the late evening. Another round of showers will move east out of Colorado late tonight and persist into early Sunday. A break in precipitation should occur mid to late morning Sunday. However, by mid-day, the upper low will approach Kansas, with -18C 500mb cold pool entering far southwest Kansas by noon. Low level moisture will increase ahead of this system, with dewpoints in the 50s by mid day. Some breaks in the cloud will allow for temperatures to rise to the convective temperature in the upper 60s to lower 70s, resulting 1000-1500 g/kg surface based CAPE, especially from Garden City southwestward to Liberal and Johnson. Additionally, the exit region of a 60-80 kt upper level jet will be situated across southwest Kansas. Given the presence of the upper low, the capping inversion will be very weak so that t-storm initiation is likely by mid day to early afternoon. These storms will initially be isolated to scattered so that hail from nickel to quarter size can`t be ruled out. Wouldn`t be surprised if a weak landspout tornado or two occurred given the presence of the upper low, with relatively cold temperatures at mid levels. During the late afternoon these storms will congeal into lines of storms with locally heavy rain; but by this point the storms will probably not be strong or severe. However, given the convective nature of the precipitation, rain totals will be highly variable, with some locations receiving over an inch, and other locations getting far less. Aside from areas of localized convection, the storm total rain through Sunday night of an inch across much of southwest Kansas may be overdone. Probabilistically, the CMCE, ECMWF and GEFS ensemble means indicate 60-80% chances of .5" or more through Sunday night across central and southwest Kansas and 10-30% chances of 1" or greater. The overall probabilities are slightly higher across central Kansas at locations such as Hays, Stafford and Pratt. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/... Issued at 225 PM CDT Sat May 11 2024 The aforementioned upper low will be east of here on Monday. However, with continued cold temperatures at 500mb, along with daytime heating and marginal moisture, a few showers are still possible, especially over central Kansas. By Tuesday, some air mass recovery is possible across the western high plains as winds become southeasterly in response to mid level westerly flow across the Rockies. Thus, there is a small chance of thunderstorms for places such as Syracuse, Johnson and Lakin Tuesday night. A weak upper level disturbance will approach the central high plains Wednesday. There is a better chance of thunderstorms Wednesday evening and night as this system passes. The best chance of locally heavy rains may be across central Kansas Wednesday night since this system is an open wave as opposed to a closed low. This is supported by the ensemble means that indicate 30-50% chances of .5" or greater across central Kansas Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday night, with lesser chances farther west. How far west the heavier rains occur depends on the placement of the low level instability. But given the time of year and lack of a closed off upper level low, this is more likely across central Kansas. A few of the storms Wednesday afternoon and evening could be marginally severe given moderate surface based CAPE and modest vertical shear. The upper level flow will become more zonal by Thursday and Friday as the weak disturbance passes to the east of our area. This will allow for warming, with highs rising into the lower 80s Thursday and near 90 for Friday. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/... Issued at 1227 AM CDT Sun May 12 2024 Periods of showers and storms for all terminals will be expected during the time period. Best opportunity for storms will be between 08-14Z this morning and then again between 20-03Z later today. Cloud ceilings with the storms should be mainly MVFR (around 60%) with some smaller probability of IFR at times (~10%). Breaks in the clouds between 14-20Z could also provide some brief VFR flight category. Winds in general will be between 8-15 kts however any thunderstorms in the vicinity of the airport could provide some brief wind gusts. && .DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Finch LONG TERM...Finch AVIATION...Tatro