


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Cheyenne, WY
Issued by NWS Cheyenne, WY
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747 FXUS65 KCYS 240529 AFDCYS Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Cheyenne WY 1129 PM MDT Mon Jun 23 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - A few isolated showers or thunderstorms are possible this afternoon and evening. - Scattered PM thunderstorms will have the potential to become strong to severe on Tuesday and Wednesday. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY/... Issued at 315 PM MDT Mon Jun 23 2025 Cool and fairly tranquil conditions prevail across the area this afternoon in the wake of yesterday`s strong summertime cold front. A surface high meandering across the High Plains is keeping high temperatures 10 to 15F below average for this time of year today. Skies have mostly cleared, but scattered to broken low clouds remain across parts of southeast Wyoming as steady southeast winds push moisture against the higher terrain. The cool lower atmosphere has limited instability today as the upper level ridge begins to rebound aloft. The latest mesoanalysis shows the only pockets of instability located in the vicinity of the Laramie range. As a result, today should be a lull in the more active thunderstorm pattern, but we still may see a few isolated thunderstorms develop in this narrow unstable region. Low end PoPs continue into the evening here. Slightly stronger forcing in the form of modest overrunning is more prevalent to our south across northern Colorado. Thus, thunderstorm coverage may be a little more widespread there, and we will need to watch for storms moving northeast into our area as the evening progresses. These storms are likely to be elevated by the time they reach our area, but the southern Nebraska panhandle may still have some thunderstorm potential into the evening. The moisture will advance westward overnight with south to southeast surface winds continuing. As dewpoints increase and temperatures drop, we will have another round of low clouds and/or fog developing over the High Plains Tuesday morning. The highest chances for fog will be along the I-80 corridor from the summit towards Sidney. This will put another capping inversion in place for Tuesday morning. However, forecast models show clouds eroding quickly with the higher moisture and warmer temperatures allowing for significantly higher CAPE compared to today. A strong southwest jet aloft will keep ample vertical wind shear in place. All together, this looks to set the stage for a fairly potent severe weather environment during the afternoon and evening hours. The capping will likely reduce coverage, but widely scattered thunderstorms that break the cap will have the potential to quickly become strong to severe. While the primary threat will be large to very large hail, all severe weather hazards including isolated tornadoes, will be possible. Discrete supercell thunderstorms appear likely. While the most activity should be in the late afternoon hours, storms will probably continue well into the evening, and possibly overnight along the northern periphery of the forecast area. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/... Issued at 315 PM MDT Mon Jun 23 2025 A fairly active period expected Wednesday and for portions of the weekend as unsettled weather moves in over head. Wednesday looks to be the best day for severe chances in the long term forecast, with relatively quiet weather Thursday and Friday. Wednesday will feature a neutrally tilted upper-level trough across the Intermountain west with a strong just downstream of the trough axis, just west of the CWA. As the trough advects easterly, the upper-level jet will move directly overhead, leading to favorable jet dynamics to support afternoon convection. Lift from the upper-level jet will be coupled with some additional lift from 500mb cyclonic vorticity advection as multiple lobes of vorticity eject out ahead of the approaching trough axis Wednesday afternoon. The low-level, 700b jet will not be as favorable for convection as the jet remains mostly to the east of the CWA throughout the day Wednesday. Modest warm air advection at 700mb will be present, though not along the same timeline as other factors in this case. A surface low will attempt to develop in northeastern Colorado throughout the day, but will struggle to get organized. As a result, southerly to southeasterly winds are expected across the CWA through the afternoon hours, leading to increase moisture advection into the region. Convection looks to be initiated by a relatively weak cold front at 700mb that will knock 700mb temperatures from 13C down to around 9 to 10C. While this cold front is relatively weak, the forcing from it will still be enough to get storms to initiate along and ahead of the boundary. The NAM suggests MLCAPE values around 1200 to 1500 Joules in the Panhandle, with forecast NAM soundings showing fairly strong lapse rates in the low- and mid-levels, with precipitable water values around 1 inch. Increased DCAPE values will likely be present Wednesday afternoon as the steep, low-level lapse rates favor gusty winds mixing down to the surface, with steep mid-level lapse rates favoring hail development as well. A Marginal Risk (Level 1 of 5) is in place across much of the CWA on Wednesday, with hail and strong winds currently looking to be the primary hazards. Daytime temperatures will rise into the 70s and 80s across the region, with dewpoints increasing into the 50s and 60s east of the Laramie Range, with the highest values across the Panhandle. More details on the severe weather potential on Wednesday will continue to come to light over the next couple of days leading up to the event. Thursday and Friday will serve more as transition days in the long term pattern as southwesterly to westerly flow returns aloft behind the departing trough. As a result, subsidence will be present aloft across the CWA on Thursday as the upper-level trough leaves the area and anticyclonic vorticity advection develops behind the trough. As a result, dry conditions are expected Thursday and Friday as 700mb temperatures warm back into the 13 to 16C range. Surface temperatures will increase back into the 80s and 90s once more, with Friday being the warmest day across the region. Expecting little to no precipitation chances with fairly calm winds near the surface ahead of the next approaching system for Saturday and Sunday. Saturday will feature an upper-level shortwave pushing overhead, which will lead to enough forcing to get afternoon showers and storms once again. Multiple 500mb vorticity lobes will once again eject out ahead of the approaching shortwave, leading to additional synoptic lift from CVA across much of the eastern portions of the CWA. These lobes will force convective initiation Saturday afternoon. 700mb temperatures remain in the 15 to 17C range, leading to surface temperatures in the 80s and 90s once again for Saturday. Additionally another cold front with pass through the region, initiating showers and storms along and ahead of the front, leading to afternoon showers and storms. Messy flow develops once more for Sunday with 700mb temperatures cooling slightly and afternoon shower and thunderstorm chances remaining for much of the region. Temperatures on Sunday will drop back into the 70s and 80s behind the cold front passing through on Saturday. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1121 PM MDT Mon Jun 23 2025 Southwest flow aloft will continue. After a quiet night tonight, Tuesday afternoon will see a significant increase in shower and thunderstorm chances. Wyoming TAFS...For Rawlins and Laramie, clear skies will prevail through Tuesday morning, with scattered to broken clouds from 6000 to 12000 feet in the afternoon and evening, along with thunderstorms in the vicinity of Laramie from 20Z to 02Z. Winds will gust to 25 knots at Rawlins from 17Z to 01Z, and to 30 knots at Laramie after 15Z Tuesday. For Cheyenne, ceilings will range from 2500 to 3500 feet until 09Z, then fog will prevail from 09Z to 15Z, reducing visibilities to 3 miles and ceilings to 700 feet, then ceilings will range from 4500 to 8000 feet after 15Z, with thunderstorms in the vicinity from 20Z to 02Z. Winds will gust to 25 knots from 15Z to 02Z. Nebraska TAFS...For Chadron and Alliance, scattered to broken clouds from 4000 to 8000 feet will prevail, with thunderstorms in the vicinity from 20Z to 02Z Tuesday. Winds will gust to 22 knots until 08Z, and to 25 knots from 20Z to 02Z. For Scottsbluff and Sidney, scattered to broken clouds from 2500 to 7000 feet will occur until 08Z, with ceilings from 700 to 1500 feet from 08Z to 16Z, then scattered to broken clouds from 5000 to 8000 feet will occur after 16Z, with thunderstorms in the vicinity from 20Z to 02Z. Winds will gust to 22 knots at Scottsbluff until 09Z, and to 25 knots at both terminals from 16Z to 02Z. && .CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WY...None. NE...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...MN LONG TERM...AM AVIATION...RUBIN