Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Goodland, KS
Issued by NWS Goodland, KS
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346 FXUS63 KGLD 092013 AFDGLD Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Goodland KS 113 PM MST Tue Dec 9 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Unseasonably warm and breezy this afternoon and evening. - Cold front this evening/overnight will bring 30-40 MPH gusts, with isolated 40-50 MPH gusts. - Unseasonably warm temperatures Thursday in the 60s to low 70s before cooler, albeit normal to slightly below normal, temperatures Friday through the weekend. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY/... Issued at 106 PM MST Tue Dec 9 2025 In the upper-levels, we`ll be southwest of northwesterly flow. This will allow lower-level systems to pass through region and clip the CWA over the next few days. Today, the northwesterly breezy conditions will continue until about sunset. Late this evening, around 0-3Z, a cold front will be entering the CWA from the north. Winds will have calmed a bit before this happens, but once the front passes through, northerly winds sustained around 15-20 kts and gusts 20-30 kts are expected. Surface pressure rises look to be around 1-2 mb per hour for 3-6 hours following the front. There is a 35% chance a few gusts of 40-45 kts occur tonight behind the front. Due to a general lack of moisture in the atmosphere, precipitation is not expected tonight, or throughout the rest of the short term. There should be enough moisture to lead to scattered to broken skies. Between the clouds and the stronger winds, the surface will stay well mixed and insulated. This will keep low temperatures around 30 in the eastern CWA and mid 20s in the western CWA. Wind chills will be around 20F Wednesday morning. Tomorrow morning, an 850 mb high pressure system will be ejecting off the Rockies to our southwest. This will extend a ridge over the CWA, leading to weaker winds throughout most of the day Wednesday. This will also help clear out the sky, allowing temperatures to warm to around 50. The ridge will also lead to some WAA, which will be stronger over the western CWA. This should allow temperatures in eastern Colorado to warm into the low 50s. Wednesday evening into the night, a weak shortwave trough will push the ridge out of the area to the east. Once again, moisture is lacking, so PoPs are very low, but along and north of U.S. 36 could see some isolated flurries/sprinkles. Depending on the timing of any precipitation, temperatures could melt out any falling snow. If rain/sprinkles do occur, isolated patches of black ice my form later in the night as temperatures fall below freezing. Overall, low temperatures are forecast to drop to near freezing. Thursday morning, another weak ridge will move in from the southwest. Mild WAA and clearing skies will allow temperatures to warm into the upper 60s to low 70s Thursday. These temperatures and no additional moisture will push minimum RH values into the upper teens in eastern Colorado. Northwesterly winds gusting around 20 kts with the drier RHs will cause a mild concern for fire weather conditions. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... Issued at 112 PM MST Tue Dec 9 2025 Thursday night, a front is forecast to move through the area either during the very early morning hours or around sunrise. In most scenarios, the pressure rises are only around a 2-3 mb in three hours which is forecast to not lead to much of an increase in the winds with speeds around 10-20 mph. The bigger concern is the possibility for some freezing fog and drizzle ahead of and just behind the front. Some guidance is hinting that the colder temperatures with the front may allow the air to saturate as the front isn`t forecast to bring much dry air in. Even if the saturation does occur, temperatures may not lower fast enough for the freezing aspect to develop. So for now, watching for some fog and drizzle that could be freezing. Friday, temperatures are forecast to be cooler compared to Thursday in the wake of the front with highs in the 40s and 50s. The coldest air will favor eastern portions of the area as the cold air mass slides through the Plains. Mostly cloudy skies are forecast as drier air isn`t forecast to sweep in and clear us out. For the weekend, colder temperatures remain forecast, through how cold remains a bit unclear. Guidance is fairly unified in an upper trough digging into the Plains and Ohio River Valley. The issue is that ensemble guidance is showing a hint that it could dig a bit further south and west compared to deterministic guidance. If the trough follows more deterministic guidance, Saturday and Sunday`s temperatures won`t be too dissimilar to Friday with highs in the 40s and 50s and lows 20s and teens. The coldest temperatures are likely on Sunday in the wake of another potential front. If the trough does dig more west/south, temperatures could be about 5-15 degrees cooler than what is currently forecast. Regardless of scenario, precipitation is unlikely as drier air steadily filters into the area in the lower levels from the west. For the start of next week, the initial forecast continues to favor more mild conditions with highs in the 50s and 60s. Either split flow or upper ridging is forecast to take hold over the Plains, leading to the nicer conditions. With little/no change in the overall air mass and weak forcing over the area, precipitation remains unlikely. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1040 AM MST Tue Dec 9 2025 VFR Flight conditions are forecast to prevail through the period. Winds will be the main thing to focus on. Winds this afternoon will start off lighter (~5-10 kts) from the west- southwest and throughout the early afternoon speed up (15-25 kts) from the northwest. Around sunset, as the nocturnal inversion sets up, winds at the surface will calm a bit, but this will allow LLWS to set up. Expect 200-500 ft AGL winds to be from the northwest around 40-50 kts. Around 1-6Z, a cold front will start impacting the TAF sites. This will lead to winds gusting around 25-30 kts from the north-northwest. between 9-15Z, winds will gradually slow as a ridge builds in from the west. && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...None. CO...None. NE...None. && $$ SHORT TERM...CA LONG TERM...KAK AVIATION...CA