Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Wilmington, OH
Issued by NWS Wilmington, OH
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372 FXUS61 KILN 052343 AFDILN Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington OH 643 PM EST Wed Feb 5 2025 .SYNOPSIS... A system moving through the region tonight and early Thursday will bring a mix of precipitation and the potential for icy surfaces early tonight. Then, dry conditions are expected for later Thursday morning through Friday. Another system bringing mixed precipitation will affect the region starting late Friday night. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY/... Broad isentropic lift with pockets of upward motion/weak instability will see areas of showers push into the CWA from the west. These wsw-ene bands look to be forming in areas of low level convergence that are topped by mid level vorticity maxima. Given the continued mean and deep westerly flow, it will be difficult to pin down specific locations and/or timing for these showers to initiate this afternoon and evening. By this evening, rain is expected to have overspread the southern CWA with a relatively sharp s-n cutoff near the I-70 corridor. Thunderstorms within this area are possible as discrete cells could be strong enough to force a charge separation. By later this evening, rain on the northern edge of these showers will spread north to cover the remainder of the CWA. The main fly in the ointment with this system is surface temperatures and potential of freezing rain from onset to a little after midnight. Temperatures will be waffling this evening for most of the CWA between 30-34 degrees, warmer south of a Cincinnati- Chillicothe line. Not too long after midnight, temperatures will be warming over the entire CWA, removing the threat for any icy accumulations. This will occur last to the north of the I-70 corridor where the threat of freezing rain or a mix of rain and freezing rain exists the longest with temperatures within a degree of the freezing mark, lagging an hour or two behind the warmup expected elsewhere over the CWA. Lows will occur early on this evening and linger there for several hours. The warm front lifting across the region will bring temperatures at daybreak to the upper 30s in the north, low to mid 40s for much of the CWA, and lower 50s south of the Ohio River. Did not change any timing or placement with the winter weather advisory currently in effect. Too much uncertainty exists to push temperatures more than a degree up or down which does not make any reasonable further delineation of the sensible weather in our area. Start time of precip also has some uncertainty. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT/... Southwest winds gusting to 20-25 mph will help push temperatures up about 5-8 deg from morning lows on Thursday under cloudy skies. Readings will range from the mid 40s in the north, near or in the low 50s along the I-71 corridor, and low 60s over northern Kentucky and far south central Ohio. Lingering daybreak/early morning showers in northern Kentucky and far southern Ohio will end by late morning. Some few breaks in cloud cover should occur later in the afternoon, particularly to the north and west of metro Dayton, possibly running through Wilmington and Columbus before evening. Skies will decrease in the evening from west to east, with partly cloudy conditions expected by daybreak. Winds will continue to be westerly, and temperatures will lower to the mid 20s in the north to around 30 in the south. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Persistent midlevel zonal flow will evolve for the start of the long term period, providing a path for several weak embedded disturbances to ripple to the E swiftly through the mid MO/OH Vlys, one after the other. These quick-moving systems will allow the LL baroclinic boundary to oscillate about the region N to S, and back N again, several times through the long term period, spelling an active pattern for us locally. A brief stretch of quiet weather is expected for the final day of the workweek as sfc high pressure briefly builds into the region with seasonably chilly temps on tap amidst a mix of sun and clouds. By Friday night into Saturday, the first of the aforementioned quick-hitting systems will translate E through the region, doing its best to once again erode an antecedent LL wedge of cold air before pcpn overspreads from the SW. The system late Friday night through Saturday doesn`t appear all too different from the system impacting the area tonight, although with the low track slightly further to the N/W, the overall profile for Saturday should be a tad warmer, suggesting that the potential for FZRA or mixed wintry pcpn should be more limited in nature. Additionally, with most of the pcpn likely arriving after daybreak Saturday, the daytime insolation should help limit impacts even if there is some patchy FZRA near the onset. But most spots should receive mainly rain -- perhaps another quarter to half of an inch for many locales. CAA on the backside of the departing system Saturday night into Sunday will bring temps back closer to seasonal norms once again as the baroclinic boundary again oscillates back to our S by Sunday/Monday. Zonal flow persists as we progress into next week with an active storm track continuing right through the ern third of the CONUS. The latitudinal positioning of the boundary will ultimately dictate what types of pcpn and what impacts may be felt from a parade of disturbances within the Mon-Wed time frame. It seems probable, even at this juncture, that additional wintry pcpn will impact at least parts of the region once again during this several day stretch, but details regarding ptypes and amounts remain far from certain at this stage. The details of what may unfold may still not come into focus until late this week, but there are high probabilities for a wet (or potentially wintry) pattern to develop toward the end of the long term period. && .AVIATION /00Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... Freezing rain will be the main aviation impact for the next few hours, along with MVFR to IFR ceilings and visibilities. CVG/LUK will remain generally above freezing, though some very light icing impacts are possible at KCVG for a few hours. ILN/DAY/CMH/LCK will likely see longer periods of freezing rain occur. Once the freezing rain ends after 06Z, additional concerns will be a period of LIFR ceilings, and some LLWS. Both have been included for a few hours in each of the TAFs. Precipitation will end in the 11Z-12Z time frame, but some MVFR visibilities may persist, along with MVFR to possibly IFR ceilings. Very late in the day, ceilings should scatter out to VFR. OUTLOOK...MVFR to IFR conditions are expected Saturday through Sunday morning. Gusty winds are possible on Saturday. && .ILN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...Winter Weather Advisory until 2 AM EST Thursday for OHZ060>064- 070>074. Winter Weather Advisory until 5 AM EST Thursday for OHZ026-034- 035-042>046-051>056-065. KY...None. IN...Winter Weather Advisory until 2 AM EST Thursday for INZ050-058- 059-066. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Franks NEAR TERM...Franks SHORT TERM...Franks LONG TERM...KC AVIATION...Hatzos