Scientific Forecaster Discussion

NWS Discussion
			
				

Area forecast discussion 
National Weather Service New York New York 
431 PM EDT Sat may 18 2013 


Synopsis... 
high pressure will continue to slide east of the area tonight. 
A warm front will approach from the Middle Atlantic States Sunday into 
Sunday night. A warm front will pass to the north on Monday. The 
front then remains in close proximity to the area through the 
week...quite possibly passing south as a cold front late Tuesday 
and then back north as a warm front on Thursday. A cold frontal 
passage occurs late in the week or early weekend. 


&& 


Near term /until 6 am Sunday morning/... 
the high moves further offshore tonight. Skies are forecast to 
remain mostly cloudy/overcast for the majority of the overnight 
period. Thinking that conditions will remain mostly dry...however 
with showers already falling over the region and some guidance 
hinting this showers could still remain over the area 
overnight...will include slight chance probability of precipitation in the forecast. 
Overnight lows will fall into the 50s...with the warmest spots in 
and around the NYC metropolitan area. 


&& 


Short term /6 am Sunday morning through Sunday night/... 
a warm front south of the region will approach the area Sunday and 
Sunday night. Skies will remain cloudy with an increasing threat 
of showers through the day. Will still limit probability of precipitation to just chance 
at this time...due to the difficulty in timing and placement of 
any shower activity. 


Moisture continues to increase Sunday night as a shortwave 
approaches along the warm front. Would expect light rain or 
drizzle along with areas of fog to develop. 


Temperatures on Sunday will be slightly below normal due to cloud 
cover. Expect highs in the lower and middle 60s. Sunday 
night...lows will be mild with temperatures only falling into the 
middle and upper 50s to near 60. 


&& 


Long term /Monday through Saturday/... 
predictability issues during this time period have to do with the 
interaction of eastern Canadian troughing and central US troughing 
this week. The interaction of these two energies will determine the 
magnitude of East Coast ridging for the midweek. Models signaling a 
return to East Coast troughing for the weekend as East Coast ridging 
builds offshore into the western Atlantic. 


Models in decent agreement with a split upper flow on Monday...with 
weak shortwave energy over the middle Mississippi River 
valley...tracking south of the region on Monday. The resultant S/SW 
flow should allow for warm frontal passage Monday morning...if not 
sooner. With surge of a more unstable airmass...thunderstorms are 
possible with the warm frontal passage Monday morning. Then once in the 
warm sector Monday afternoon...there is potential for isolated to 
scattered afternoon convection with weak shortwave forcing/thermal 
troughing. 


On Tuesday...models continue in fairly good agreement with an 
unseasonably warm and humid air mass working into the region. 12z 
GFS pushes a backdoor cold front south of the region by Tuesday 
morning...but majority of guidance holds off on this till late 
day/night. Depending on the timing of the frontal 
boundary...favorable instability and wind fields present the 
potential for some strong to severe convection ahead/along this 
boundary Tuesday afternoon/evening. Showers and thunderstorms could 
continue Tuesday night...with indications of a wave of low pressure 
tracking east along the sagging frontal boundary. Moisture pooling 
and steering flow parallel to the surface boundary would present a 
flash flood threat if this pattern materialized. 


Then for the middle-late week period the interaction of the earlier 
mentioned upper features will be critical to the location of the 
frontal boundary. Latest guidance has converged on the backdoor cold 
front pushing south through the region Tuesday night...and then back 
north as a warm front on Thursday. If the front does pass 
south...onshore flow and clouds would likely drop maximum temperatures to 
seasonable or slightly below seasonable levels for Wednesday...several 
degrees cooler then forecasted on Wednesday. 


Regardless of where the warm front ends up...if this boundary 
remains close to the region...shortwaves at the southern edge of the 
westerlies may allow for convective complexes to form and track west 
to east along this boundary through the middle-late week period. Any 
mesoscale convective system would bring the threat for heavy rain and severe weather. 


By the end of the week...models are signaling varying degrees of 
phasing of the Midwest upper trough and eastern Canadian upper 
trough. This will have a cold front passing through the region 
sometime Friday into Sat...with shower and thunderstorm activity 
finally exiting in it wake. Degree of phasing of upper energies will 
determine timing and activity along the front. 


&& 


Aviation /21z Saturday through Thursday/... 
high pressure will move to the east through the period while a 
warm front slowly approaches from the south. 


Bands of light rain/sprinkles over the lower Hudson Valley...NYC 
metropolitan and western Long Island should continue into the early 
evening. VFR conds expected...but cannot totally rule out brief MVFR 
in spots...mainly with the well organized band headed toward khpn 
late this afternoon. 


Southeast-S flow less than 10 or less should diminish tonight as the high 
pulls off to the east and the warm front gets a little closer. 
Light rain with MVFR ceilings likely to arrive to the NYC metropolitan 
terminals...possibly as early as 05z-06z but more likely closer to 
daybreak Sunday. IFR conds likely by afternoon. Kgon will be the 
exception to the rule here...with MVFR conds through the end of the 
period. 


Outlook for 18z Sunday through Wednesday... 


Sunday afternoon/night...MVFR or lower conds expected in light 
rain as warm front approaches and stalls just to the south at 
night. Southeast surface wind 10-15 knots...diminishing at night. 


Monday...warm frontal passage...with improvement to VFR by middle to late 
morning. Scattered showers with brief MVFR conds possible in 
the afternoon. 


Monday night...MVFR or lower conds likely with low clouds and fog. 


Tue-Wed...chance of MVFR of lower conds in showers/thunderstorms with 
stationary frontal boundary nearby or just to the south. 


Thursday...warm frontal passage with improvement to VFR during the morning... 
then cold frontal passage with late day/nighttime showers/tstms. 


&& 


Marine... 
high pressure east of the waters continues to move offshore. This 
will result in conditions remaining below Small Craft Advisory levels tonight. 


A warm front south of the waters will approach during the day Sunday 
and Sunday night...resulting in an increasing southerly flow. Seas 
will gradually increase through the day on Sunday to 5 feet. Wavewatch 
has seas reaching 6 feet...however at this time...I am thinking it may 
be a little too high so have capped seas at 5 feet. With seas reaching 
5 feet...will be going with a Small Craft Advisory for the ocean 
waters from Sandy Hook New Jersey to Moriches Inlet New York starting Sunday 
morning and continuing through Sunday night. For the waters from 
Moriches Inlet New York to Montauk New York...the Small Craft Advisory will start at noon on 
Sunday and also run through Sunday night. An occasional gust to 25 
knots can not be ruled during this timeframe. 


Small Craft Advisory ocean seas are likely by Monday morning with a persistent southeast 
flow ahead of an approaching warm front. The warm front should move 
north of the waters Monday...and should remain to the north through 
Tuesday. The front will likely remain in the vicinity of the waters 
through middle week...possibly sagging south of the waters late Tuesday 
and then back north on Thursday. 


Once the warm front moves north on Monday a long fetch southerly 
flow will maintain southerly swells...and should keep ocean seas at 
Small Craft Advisory levels into middle week. Marginal Small Craft Advisory winds are possible on 
Monday...but winds should be generally below Small Craft Advisory levels for the 
remainder of the early to middle week period. Marginal Small Craft Advisory winds could 
return for Thursday. 


&& 


Hydrology... 
no significant rainfall is expected through Sunday night. 


Periods of showers and thunderstorms are possible Monday through 
Friday...which would be capable of producing locally heavy rainfall. 
There is a threat of flash flooding from organized shower 
thunderstorm activity during this time period. 


&& 


Okx watches/warnings/advisories... 
CT...none. 
New York...none. 
New Jersey...none. 
Marine...Small Craft Advisory from 6 am Sunday to 6 am EDT Monday for 
anz353-355. 
Small Craft Advisory from noon Sunday to 6 am EDT Monday for 
anz350. 


&& 


$$ 
Synopsis...BC/NV 
near term...British Columbia 
short term...British Columbia 
long term...Nevada 
aviation...Goodman/met 
marine...BC/NV 
hydrology...BC/NV