


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Duluth, MN
Issued by NWS Duluth, MN
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035 FXUS63 KDLH 221744 AFDDLH Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Duluth MN 1244 PM CDT Tue Apr 22 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Isolated showers linger in portions of the Arrowhead and northwest Wisconsin tonight into Wednesday. - Potential for Dense Fog off of Lake Superior at the head of the Lake and for the North Shore tonight into early Wednesday morning. - Additional rounds of rain Thursday into Friday and Sunday into early next week. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 337 AM CDT Tue Apr 22 2025 Today-Wednesday: Low pressure located in east-central North Dakota as of 3AM CDT will continue shifting northeast throughout today and tonight into far southern Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. As it does so, frontogenesis extending southeast from the low will continue to push a band of light, scattered showers currently moving into the Brainerd Lakes northeastward through the Northland today and this evening. With some weak instability also present aloft through an hour or two after sunrise, have also introduced a slight chance (15%) for an embedded thunderstorm or two in the Brainerd Lakes. While hi-res model guidance does show additional weak instability developing this afternoon into evening, it appears to be in locations behind the band of showers, so don`t expect additional thunderstorm development into the remainder of today. The low pressure then slowly churns east across northern Ontario tonight into Wednesday, leaving lingering isolated rain shower potential (10-30%) in the Arrowhead and northwest Wisconsin, though most locations in the Northland should remain dry for tonight into Wednesday. Can`t rule out a brief mix of wet snow with the rain in the tip of the Arrowhead tonight as temperatures drop to around or just above freezing there, but don`t expect any accumulating snow. As for rainfall amounts, most will come with the frontal rain band, ranging from around one-quarter to one-third inch in north-central MN to around or less than one-tenth of an inch for the Twin Ports, Arrowhead, and northwest WI. Another weather note for today into early Wednesday will be easterly to northeasterly winds off of Lake Superior. This will keep the North Shore, Twin Ports, and east-facing portions of the South Shore cooler today. It will also introduce a potential for dense fog/very low clouds to push into the head of Lake Superior and the North Shore tonight into early Wednesday. We will need to monitor this fog signal in subsequent forecasts and model trends to determine if a Dense Fog Advisory will be needed. Thursday-Friday: This period will be highlighted by cooler temperatures near Lake Superior due to onshore winds and otherwise widespread high temperatures in the 50s to near 60 degrees for the remainder of the Northland. There will also be a time from Thursday into the first half of Friday where additional light rain showers are possible (30-60% chance) mainly south of the Iron Range as a weaker low pressure system tracks south of the Northland, from the central Plains east into the southern Great Lakes. The low- end thunderstorm potential for Thursday has disappeared with this update as mid-range model guidance keeps instability south of the Northland. Next Weekend-Early Next Week: Areas away from Lake Superior will once again see a warming trend for Saturday into early next week with highs in the upper 50s to widespread 60s for locations away from Lake Superior. This will be due to high pressure on Saturday shifting east of the region and surface winds turning southeasterly ahead of what global model ensembles generally agree on being a developing Colorado Low later Sunday that is then forecast to eject northeast to somewhere across the Upper Midwest through the first half of next week. There is still a fairly large amount of spread and uncertainty regarding the track and timing of the low pressure, so confidence in rainfall amounts and thunderstorm/severe weather at this time range are currently low. With that said, NAEFS and ECMWF Ensemble Situational Awareness Tables point to a surge of 90+ percentile PWATs for this time of year at around or just over 1" with trajectories of western Gulf moisture surging northward ahead of the Colorado Low. Therefore, there should be plenty of moisture present for a better soaking rain potential to hopefully alleviate some of the Moderate to Severe drought conditions that have developed across parts of northwest WI and north-central/northeast MN. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1244 PM CDT Tue Apr 22 2025 A band of light rain in far northern Minnesota early this afternoon enters Ontario through the next few hours, leaving behind lingering rain showers into the overnight hours. MVFR ceilings trail behind the rain band and are expected to clear out of most terminals 22-02Z. Fog is likely to form tonight along and west of the Bayfield Peninsula into the Twin Ports and along the North Shore. There is 50-60% chance of dense fog affecting some terminals in the Twin Ports and along the North Shore. At this point, LIFR conditions are expected and are in the DLH TAF. Skies clear and visibilities improve within a couple hours either side of 12Z. && .MARINE /FOR NEAR SHORE WATERS OF WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR/... Issued at 337 AM CDT Tue Apr 22 2025 Northeast winds develop today, gusting into the low-20 knots range briefly this afternoon into early evening in the southwestern arm of the Lake. A Small Craft Advisory may (30-50% chance) be needed at the head of the Lake this afternoon and evening, but the potential was too low at this time to issue one. There is potential for dense fog to develop, mainly at the head of the Lake tonight into early Wednesday morning due to moisture in the marine boundary layer due to rainfall moving through today. A wind shift to southwesterly occurs Wednesday, but winds remain below 20 knots under a stable lake warm air advection regime, with winds then lightening and veering northerly Wednesday night. Winds veer back to northeasterly for Thursday, with gusts generally remaining around 15 knots, though some funneling of winds into the head of the Lake could push gusts to around 20 knots. For the open water discussion, refer to the NWS Marquette Area Forecast Discussion at weather.gov/mqt. && .DLH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MN...None. WI...None. MARINE...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...Rothstein AVIATION...NLy MARINE...Rothstein