Area forecast discussion National Weather Service Lincoln Illinois 1154 PM CDT Tuesday Jun 18 2013 Discussion... issued 858 PM CDT Tuesday Jun 18 2013 Showers and thunderstorms have greatly decreased and severe threat is gone. However...some scattered to isolated showers and thunderstorms are still possible in the southeast through about midnight. So will be updating forecast to reflect current radar trends. Update should be out shortly. Auten && Aviation... issued 1154 PM CDT Tuesday Jun 18 2013 VFR conditions will prevail at all taf sites next 24hrs. Skies should remain clear overnight and then only expecting some scattered cumulus tomorrow at around 4kft. This cumulus will not be diurnal so am expecting it to continue into the evening hours tomorrow. Winds will be northeasterly overnight and then become easterly tomorrow. Then expecting variable winds tomorrow evening as they shift from southeast to south back to southeast. Wind speeds tomorrow evening should be light. Auten && Previous discussion... issued 133 PM CDT Tuesday Jun 18 2013 Latest model suite in reasonable agreement through the forecast period as heights build and Summer moves into full swing. Short term...tonight through Wednesday Cold front at 18z extends from near Macomb...across Decatur...to near Terre Haute. Instability along the front will likely be sufficient for convective development later this afternoon and early evening along the boundary where convergence and pooling dew points are occurring. High pressure centered over the upper Great Lakes is expected to continue to push the boundary southward through tonight. Diurnal stability combined with drier air being advected into Illinois should end rain chances by midnight. Wednesday should be dry as high pressure dominates. Temperatures should be cooler than normal. That will change as the week GOES on. Long term...Wednesday night through Tuesday Strong upper low in the northeast Pacific is expected to make landfall across the northwest in the next 24 hours. As this feature pushes East...Ridge should build ahead of it. Models are consistent in developing rising heights across the Mississippi Valley with rises of 160 meters at 500mb between now and Friday evening. Temperatures should respond by moving above normal for the late June. Low-level flow should also come around to south- southwest by Friday allowing dew points to climb. Combination of humidity and temperatures should bring heat index values between 95 and 102 across the area for the weekend and into early next week. Biggest difference between the major models is whether ridging will be sufficient to keep precipitation to our north. 00z European model (ecmwf)/12z NAM are weakest and develop a pattern that is most conducive to diurnal convection. 12z GFS/Gem is stronger with ridge and suggest that any activity should remain isolated at least through the weekend. Models in good agreement in redeveloping the upper ridge back over the southern rockies by next Tuesday which will develop a little more in the way of flow across Illinois and higher rain chances. This transition may be a little fast and will keep Tuesday down to slight chance for now but later shifts will have to watch carefully for model trends. && Ilx watches/warnings/advisories... none. && $$