Area forecast discussion
National Weather Service Amarillo Texas
604 am CDT sun may 19 2013
Aviation...
12z taf cycle
an upper low over the central rockies today will move into the
Central Plains states by tonight. A weak cold front will push south
across the three taf sites by late today. VFR conditions are expected
at all three taf sites. Westerly winds will increase to around 15 to
25 knots with higher gusts...then shifting to the northwest and north
5 to 15 knots by 00z to 02z Monday.
Schneider
&&
Previous discussion... /issued 502 am CDT sun may 19 2013/
Discussion...
the upper low that brought severe weather to the plains yesterday
will be sticking around for a little while but should remain east
enough to limit storm potential.
This morning the dryline has been retreating westward as expected
but will stay east of its initial position yesterday. This will mean
that once the sun comes up it will surge east of the area. But
behind the dryline a weak cold front will drop into the panhandles
to keep US cooler than yesterday...much cooler for the Oklahoma
Panhandle. The Oklahoma Panhandle will have to take the good with
bad as the cold front could spark showers and thunderstorms. There
will once again be a considerable cap for the majority the
panhandles to limit storm development. However...there does look
like there will be a brief window during the early afternoon where
several factors have the potential to line up and overcome the cap
across the eastern Oklahoma Panhandle. These factors are: a subtle
shortwave rotating around the base of the upper low...the merger of
the cold front and dryline...and MLCAPE values between 1000-1500
j/kg. If any one of these factors is offset from the others then
few or no storms may form. With that being said if they do line
up then we could easily see an isolated severe storm with damaging
winds and large hail being the primary hazards. The uncertainly of
the several contributing factors will keep confidence of occurrence
low however...should severe storms form the main threat area would
be east of a Turpin to Canadian line between noon and 6 PM.
Fire concerns will persist again today across the better part of the
Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle. Specifically red flag conditions are
expected across the western and southern Texas Panhandle while
elevated fir weather conditions are expected across the western
Oklahoma and central Texas Panhandle. These conditions are expected
to develop this afternoon and persist into the evening hours.
A slightly stronger cold front will move across the panhandles
during the late evening/overnight hours Sunday night. This will lead
to slightly cooler high temperatures for Monday. Isolated showers
will be possible across the Oklahoma and northern Texas Panhandle but
for now expected them to remain below strong criteria.
Ridging is expected to develop Tuesday and persist through Wednesday.
This should keep the area dry before an approaching upper low sends a
series of shortwave over the crest of the ridge. These shortwaves
could bring several chances for precipitation through the end of the week.
Fire weather...
critical fire weather conditions are expected this afternoon across
the western and southern Texas Panhandle. Relative humidities will
drop between 8 and 15 percent while 20 foot winds out of the
northwest to west increases to 20 to 25 miles per hour with higher gusts.
Elevated fire weather conditions are expected across the western
Oklahoma Panhandle and central Texas Panhandle this afternoon as
relative humidities drop to 15 to 20 percent. Northwest to west
20 foot winds between 15 and 20 miles per hour are expected. Both elevated
and critical fire weather conditions are expected to end after
9 PM this evening.
Critical fire weather conditions are expected across the southwestern
Texas Panhandle Monday afternoon and evening. Relative humidities
will drop into the 10 to 15 percent range while west 20 foot winds
increase to 20 to 25 miles per hour with higher gusts. After Monday evening
neither elevated nor critical fire weather conditions are expected
through the rest of the week.
&&
Ama watches/warnings/advisories...
Texas...red flag warning from 1 PM this afternoon to 9 PM CDT this
evening for the following zones: Armstrong...Carson...
Collingsworth...Dallam...Deaf Smith...Donley...gray...
Hartley...Moore...Oldham...Potter...Randall.
Fire Weather Watch from Monday afternoon through Monday evening
for the following zones: Deaf Smith...Oldham...Potter...
Randall.
OK...none.
&&
$$
11/14
