


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Albany, NY
Issued by NWS Albany, NY
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897 FXUS61 KALY 121916 AFDALY AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Albany NY 316 PM EDT Sat Jul 12 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Isolated to scattered showers and widely thunderstorms today into tonight with any storm capable of locally heavy downpours and brief gusty winds. Warm and muggy conditions continue through tomorrow with a break for dry weather before a slow moving cold front ushers in additional showers and thunderstorms Sunday afternoon into Monday. Dangerous heat and humidity then returns Tuesday through the end of the week. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... Key Messages: - Localized flooding possible today from heavy downpours and higher rainfall rates from isolated slow moving thunderstorms, especially if storms repeatedly impact a given area. - Isolated flash flooding is possible late Sunday P.M into Monday, especially if heavy rain persists over a given area as a cold front slowly tracks eastward. Cannot rule out an isolated strong thunderstorm, mainly in the mid-Hudson Valley and western New England on Monday. Discussion: Clouds have been slow to erode this morning in valley areas as the 12 UTC ALY sounding showed a strong low-level inversion with moisture trapped beneath it. However, latest GOES Vis/IR sandwich satellite shows clouds finally breaking for more sun and given dew points quite high in the upper 60s to low 70s, increased insolation will allow the instability to rise quickly reaching 1000 - 2000 J/kg per the 12 UTC HREF guidance. A weak sfc trough beneath the relatively weak ridge positioned over western/central NY will act to focus convection this afternoon as will a few weak shortwaves rounding the top of the ridge and southeast flow upsloping the terrain. Although instability will be plentiful amid this muggy air mass, shear is very weak only 15 - 25kts and flow through the column is very weak. Therefore, expecting generally isolated storm coverage although a few storm clusters can develop along outflow boundaries and grow upscale. Should any storms become tall enough, cloud to ground lightning can certainly occur along with heavy downpours given FZ levels 11-12k ft and PWATs around 2" (impressively 1.85" on the 12 UTC ALY sounding). Storms will be slow moving and the heavy downpours could lead to localized flooding, especially if storms redevelop or persist over a given area. Also cannot completely rule out brief gusty winds from wet microburst again should a storm updraft grow tall enough. Luckily, the limited storm coverage should prevent widespread flash flooding and the WPC Day 1 marginal ERO helps message that. Otherwise, increased sun this afternoon will help temperatures rise into the mid to upper 80s and given high dew points, it will feel more like low to mid 90s. A muggy night follows for tonight with isolated shower and thunderstorms continuing this evening but gradually diminishing overnight. Again, any storm can produce brief heavy downpours. We start Sunday again with morning stratus clouds as southeast flow advects the marine layer inland with a few isolated showers still around before the pseudo weak warm front that has been stalled overhead finally lifts northward by mid to late morning. This will allow our region to finally dry out a bit as we enter into the very warm/humid warm sector. For most of eastern NY and especially western New England, the majority of Sunday should be dry as the slow approaching cold front will be displaced well to our west with morning clouds giving way to sun. Guidance shows weak height falls in response to the incoming trough holding off reaching the western Mohawk Valley/western Adirondacks until closer to 21 - 00 UTC. Therefore, most of Sunday should end up being dry but definitely warm/humid as high temperatures rise into the mid to upper 80s making it feel more like low to mid 90s. Afternoon sun and boundary layer mixing should help reduce dew points a bit and thereby lowering our chance to hit the 95F heat advisory threshold. The line of showers and thunderstorms associated with the incoming front reaches our western Adirondack/western Mohawk Valley and northern Catskills areas by early evening with a conveyor belt of slightly stronger mid-level westerlies tracking overhead as troughing spreads eastward. Deep layer shear increasing to 20-25 KT coincide with moderate instability 1000-2000 J/kg can support storms growing upscale enough to result in damaging wind gusts. SPC continues a "Marginal Risk" or level 1 of 5 across areas mainly west of the Hudson River where storms should reach during the final hours of peak heating. However, the overall weak forcing, shear and mid-level lapse rates will limit the severe weather threat. Besides potential wind gusts, heavy rain and localized flooding will need to be monitored as PWATs remain high around 2" focused along the boundary and with high FZ levels 12-13kft supporting efficient warm rain processes and rather unidirectional weak flow through the column oriented parallel to the front, periods of heavy rain could train or repeatedly impact a given area. Rainfall rates could reach 1-2"/per hour a times. While the localized flooding potential is higher Sunday evening/night compared to Saturday, the WPC Day 2 marginal ERO is still fine to message the isolated flash flood potential as flash flood guidance is still rather high at 2-3"/3-hours. The line of rain and embedded storms continues to very slowly track eastward overnight resulting in more widespread rainfall and potential additional localized flooding from heavy downpours. By Monday, our cold front and line of showers/embedded storms continues to slowly progress further eastward starting the day around the Hudson River and gradually advancing eastward into western New England by the afternoon. Heavy rain and localized flooding remains a concern along the boundary where rain can train/repeatedly impact as our environment from Sunday remains largely the same. As discussed in the previous discussion, areas in the mid- Hudson Valley, southern Berkshire, NW CT and the I-84 corridor will some limited heating/breaks of sun ahead of the boundary and with lapse rates steepening closer to 6C/km before the front arrives, storms could grow upscale and strengthen as they progress further south/east by the afternoon. SPC does not currently have us outlooked but will continue to watch trends and collaborate as needed. Otherwise, temperatures will not be quite as hot as the previous few days given increased cloud coverage and rain but it will remain very muggy. Cloudy skies give way to afternoon sun for the areas mainly north and west of the Capital District as the front slowly clears and weak troughing and mid-level moisture slowly exit. It will take until late Monday P.M into Monday evening for clouds and rain from the front to clear across western New England but the northwest wind shift should help usher in some minor relief from the very humid air mass overnight. Overnight temperatures dropping into the upper 50s in the higher terrain to mid-60s in the valley. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Key Message: - Heat Index values or "feels-Like" temperatures may reach the mid 90s to 100F in the valley areas Tuesday through Thursday. Discussion: The main story for the long term will be the dangerous heat as broad ridging develops over the Eastern CONUS while a shortwave in southern Canada slowly amplifies as it tracks into the Great Lakes. This will induce stronger southwesterly flow and advect an anomalously warm and humid air mass into the Northeast with 850 hPa isotherms reaching 1 to 2 standard deviations above normal per the NAEFS. Sunny skies on Tuesday under a weak sfc high will aid temperatures in reaching the upper 80s to low 90s but dew points should be a bit lower in the wake of Monday`s front plus stronger daytime boundary layer mixing so we are confidence is lower if heat index values will meet/exceed 95F. However, confidence increases Wednesday and Thursday, despite increasing clouds and chances for showers/storms, as dew points will likely return to very uncomfortable levels. The HeatRisk values also reach "major" levels both days. Overnight lows will not provide much relief as high humidity continues and temperatures struggle to drop under clouds. Depending on the exact timing of the cold front and upper level shortwave Thursday/Friday, we should experience relief from the heat/humidity by the weekend. && .AVIATION /19Z SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Predominately VFR conditions are expected this afternoon with the exception being in the vicinity of scattered showers and thunderstorms. Confidence has decreased in the showers and storms having a direct impact at the TAF sites and the PROB30 groups have been removed from the forecasts for this afternoon. Shower and thunderstorm activity will diminish during the evening hours before MVFR/IFR stratus builds into the region after 06z. Ceilings should begin to improve to MVFR/IFR between 14z-16z. Winds throughout the forecast period are generally expected to be out of the south at less than 10 knots. Outlook... Sunday Night: High Operational Impact. Likely SHRA...TSRA. Monday: High Operational Impact. Likely SHRA...TSRA. Monday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Tuesday: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Tuesday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Wednesday: Low Operational Impact. Slight Chance of SHRA...TSRA. Wednesday Night: Low Operational Impact. Slight Chance of SHRA. Thursday: Moderate Operational Impact. Likely SHRA...TSRA. && .ALY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. MA...None. VT...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Speciale SHORT TERM...Speciale LONG TERM...Speciale AVIATION...Main