Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Central Illinois
Issued by NWS Central Illinois
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158 FXUS63 KILX 092344 AFDILX Area Forecast Discussion...Updated Aviation National Weather Service Lincoln IL 544 PM CST Sat Nov 9 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Low visibility in fog and drizzle is anticipated late tonight into early Sunday morning...particularly along/west of the I-57 corridor. Motorists are advised to drive with caution. - The next chance for showers will arrive by Wednesday: however, significant rainfall is not expected. && .SHORT TERM...(Tonight through Sunday) Issued at 324 PM CST Sat Nov 9 2024 21z/3pm surface analysis shows a 1006mb low over southern Nebraska with an occluded frontal boundary arcing southeastward into the Ozarks. Showers have developed ahead of this feature and have been spilling into central Illinois since midday. While the airmass was initially quite dry, ceilings have gradually lowered to 4,000-8,000ft and measurable precip has been noted in most locations west of the I-57 corridor. With continued top-down moistening, showers will become more widespread and heavier across the entire KILX CWA this evening. Instability will remain meager:however, NAM MUCAPE values of 200-400J/kg will be enough to support isolated thunder mention. The showers/thunder will shift eastward overnight and mainly be confined to the far E/SE CWA by dawn Sunday. As the precip ends, the CAMs are suggesting lowered visibilities overnight. Thanks to weak lift in the saturated boundary layer, think patchy fog/drizzle will develop once the showers depart. The lowered visibilities will be primarily contained to locations along/west of the I-57 corridor through the overnight hours...followed by rapid visby improvement from SW to NE across the area by early Sunday morning. 12z HREF shows a 30-40% chance of visibilities dropping below 1 mile. Once the fog dissipates, skies will become partly to mostly sunny across a good chunk of central Illinois on Sunday as drier air advects in from the southwest. HRRR/RAP shows low cloud cover potentially wrapping back into the N/NW CWA toward midday as the Nebraska low lifts into the Great Lakes. The other big weather story for Sunday will be the increasing winds. Given at least partial clearing and the development of deep-layer mixing, SW wind gusts will range from 20-30mph at times. The sunshine and SW breeze will help boost afternoon highs several degrees warmer than today...ranging from around 60 in the Illinois River Valley to around 70 south of I-70. Barnes .LONG TERM...(Monday through Next Saturday) Issued at 324 PM CST Sat Nov 9 2024 Quiet weather is anticipated for both Monday and Tuesday before the next short-wave trough arrives by mid-week. Models have been trending weaker with the system, with the 12z ECMWF now showing a 1006mb surface low passing well to the north of Illinois across southern Canada during the day Wednesday. This is in stark contrast to its previous runs that showed a much more amplified upper pattern and a deeper/further south surface low. The weaker solution is in better alignment with the current positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). As a result, think only scattered showers will accompany a progressive cold frontal passage on Wednesday...followed by a return to dry weather by the end of next week. Barnes && .AVIATION... (For the 00z TAFs through 00z Sunday Evening) Issued at 544 PM CST Sat Nov 9 2024 VFR conditions will start each TAF site with cigs around 5kft or higher. Lower, MVFR, clouds will advect over the sites this evening with cigs dropping to around 2.5kft but then get even lower around midnight to below 1kft...IFR & LIFR. Drier air is forecast to move into the area from the southwest and this will scatter clouds our for the morning hours; however, skies should become mostly cloudy by around noon with MVFR cigs returning for the late morning into the afternoon at all sites. Showers will continue this evening, but lower layers are dry...so vis will not drop to below 3sm until around midnight when the IFR cigs arrive. Lowest vis expected with the drizzle is 2sm. Vis improves tomorrow morning through the afternoon. Winds will be east to southeast through the evening, but then become southerly as the low pressure area moves north of the state. Southwest winds are expected tomorrow morning, but then become more southwest for late morning into afternoon. Speeds will be 10kts or less through the evening, overnight and into the morning. Gusty winds are expected for late morning through afternoon with gust speeds reaching over 25kts. Auten && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$