


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
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507 FXUS61 KCAR 291812 AFDCAR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Caribou ME 212 PM EDT Sun Jun 29 2025 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure will build south of the area tonight into Monday. A cold front will approach Monday night and cross the area Tuesday. High pressure will follow for Wednesday. Another cold front will cross the region Thursday. An upper level low will move overhead on Friday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... Low clouds remain trapped under strong inversion over the CWA with patchy fog, mainly along the coast and in the higher terrain. Temps remain in the 60s with tds similar as dwpt depressions range from about 2 to 4 degrees under warm and humid airmass. May see some clouds begin to clear late tonight with breaks being noted over the mountains and the North Woods. How likely this is to occur remains an uncertainty at this time but an isolated shower will be possible at times under this low cloud deck this evening with showers coming to an end by around 9pm. Mins will have a hard time dropping into the mid-50s as humid airmass remains. Patchy fog looks to develop once again late tonight as winds decouple under inversion. Winds shift around to the south-southwest Monday morning drawing in warm air under mostly sunny skies as warm front moves north of the region. With dwpts rising back into the 60s expect that heat indices will climb into the mid- upper 80s areawide. Cannot rule out the chance for showers acrs the St. John Valley late in the afternoon with boundary close and in diurnally-driven convection. Warm and humid airmass remains over the area Monday night with patchy fog developing late once again. Areas of fog will be present along the Downeast coast. Mins will be even warmer with temps in the lower 60s with mid 50s expected along the coast. && .SHORT TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Tuesday will be warm and humid with increasing chances for showers and possibly a thunderstorm as the area remains within the warm sector and a weak cold front approaches from the west. Timing differences remain on guidance, with the ECMWF/RRFS/FV3 being on the earlier side with convection entering western areas during the mid morning, while the GFS/NAM/RGEM hold off precipitation mainly until the afternoon. NBM PoPs were sufficient showing the most likely time for precipitation during the afternoon, but a slight chance to chance during the morning hours. High temperatures will generally be in the low to mid 80s, except closer to the coast where onshore flow will keep temperatures in the 70s inland to 60s closer to the immediate coast. There is also a conditional threat of strong storms and heavy rain if the later arriving solutions verify and sufficient low level moisture advection occurs to bring dew points into the 70s. The most likely areas to see this are around Moosehead Lake into the North Woods. Mid-level lapse rates will be poor, but thermodynamic profiles suggest that parcels in fully saturated environments may have sufficient buoyancy for thunderstorms. Tuesday night will be very mild and humid with lows in the low to mid 60s and partial clearing as the weak front passes through and winds shift SW. By Wednesday winds shift W, which will favor more clearing and less onshore flow, resulting in warmer temperatures over the southern half of the area, especially the coast. Northern areas will be a few degrees cooler with dew points falling into the 50s. Another shortwave trough will clip northern areas Wednesday afternoon, leading to chances for diurnal showers and possibly a thunderstorm. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... Upper level troughing is favored and will lead to unsettled weather for the end of this week into the early part of the weekend. There is relatively good agreement among guidance that an upper level low will move southeast from the Hudson Bay towards Maine, arriving overhead on Friday/Independence Day. Steepening low and mid level lapse rates are expected, along with SW flow. This pattern favors a greater potential for strong to potentially severe storms if sufficient instability develops. Thursday will be the warmer day with highs in the upper 70s to 80s. By Friday cooler temperatures are expected in the 70s as the upper level low moves overhead. Improvement is expected over the weekend as the upper level low moves away and heights rise as ridging builds in. However, isolated remaining showers are possible, particularly across the north. Seasonable temperatures are favored. && .AVIATION /18Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... NEAR TERM: IFR/LIFR expected all Aroostook terminals through late tonight with low clouds present. Downeast terminals should see improvement to MVFR by mid-afternoon with IFR setting over BHB after 06z. Cannot rule out IFR clouds at BGR though have indicated FEW003 after 06z. Conditions should improve to VFR after 12z Monday. Further north conditions improve to VFR between 11-13z with FVE only improving to low MVFR after this time. Monday night will feature VFR for northern sites with IFR restrictions in fog for southern terminals late. SHORT TERM: Tuesday: Patchy fog early could lead to IFR or lower, especially at BGR and BHB, otherwise VFR with showers and isolated t-storms developing, mainly during the afternoon. S winds around 10 kts with gusts up to 25 kts. Tuesday night: MVFR/IFR in the evening with showers and t-storms, becoming VFR from north to south, latest at BGR and BHB. SW winds 5-15 kts. LLWS possible. Wednesday to Wednesday night: VFR. W winds around 5-10 kts with gusts to 20 kts. Patchy river valley fog possible late Wednesday night. Thursday to Thursday night: VFR with tempo IFR developing in scattered showers and t-storms. SW winds 5-15 kts. Friday: MVFR/VFR with showers and t-storms. W winds 5-15 kts. && .MARINE... NEAR TERM: Winds and seas remain below small craft levels through Monday night. Visibilities likely to be reduced in fog, especially late Monday night into Tuesday morning. SHORT TERM: Winds and seas will likely remain below Small Craft Advisory levels through the weekend. There is a small chance of seas around 5 feet over the outermost waters on Tuesday, along with gusts around 20 kts. && .CAR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...None. MARINE...None. && $$ Near Term...Buster Short Term...MStrauser Long Term...MStrauser Aviation...Buster/MStrauser Marine...Buster/MStrauser