Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Jackson, KY
Issued by NWS Jackson, KY
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249 FXUS63 KJKL 172138 AFDJKL AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION National Weather Service Jackson KY 438 PM EST Mon Nov 17 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - A warm front will usher in a milder and more moist air mass into the region on Tuesday and this mild and more moist airmass should linger through the week. - Multiple weather systems should bring rain or showers at times beginning Tuesday and extending through the week. - There is a Marginal Risk (1/5) for severe thunderstorms across western sections of eastern KY from late Tuesday afternoon into Tuesday evening. Hail and damaging winds are the primary threats. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Tuesday night) Issued at 415 PM EST MON NOV 17 2025 Late this afternoon, an upper low was centered in the Maritimes with the associate upper trough extending south into the Atlantic east of the eastern seaboard. Meanwhile, an upper level low was centered in the western NE vicinity with shortwave ridging extending across the Four Corners vicinity with another upper low to the west over CA. A shortwave in advance of the High Plains/central Conus upper low extend across parts of the Central Plains toward the Arklatex region. Locally, shortwave upper ridging in the MS Valley has led to an upward trend in 500 mb heights across the Commonwealth today. Sfc high pressure was centered over central and eastern KY at present while an area of low pressure was beginning to organize in the Plains near the KS and NE border. The systems warm front extending southeast to the Lower MS Valley while the cold front trialed into TX. With the sfc and upper ridge dominating. This evening and tonight, the axis of upper ridging will move east and shift east of eastern KY around or shortly after dawn. Meanwhile the lead shortwave trough now in the central Conus will approach from the west and southwest as the upper low tracks to IA. An increase in moisture is expected tonight, mainly at high and then mid levels as the shortwave trough nears and the warm front begins to lift toward the OH and TN valleys as the sfc low tracks to the mid MS Valley region by around dawn. Some virga or sprinkles or may fall from this precipitation and there is a small chance (20 to 30%) of measurable rain form this near and north of the I-64 corridor late. Otherwise, valleys in the east and south in particulars should decouple early and drop off to if not a couple of degrees below the freezing mark by shortly after midnight. Then as the mid level clouds arrive temps should level off it not tend to rise a couple of degrees toward dawn. If more substantial rates were to arrive in area around or below the freezing mark brief spotty slick spots/freezing rain cannot be entirely ruled out. Confidence in that occurring was too low to include in the grids at this point, but later shifts will continue to monitor trends and continue to evaluate. Temperatures should rise to the upper 30s and then 40s not long after sunrise in all areas. Tuesday and Tuesday night, the upper level low should track to the Great Lakes by Tuesday evening and weaken to an open wave and reach the eastern seaboard by the end of the period. The initial shortwave should cross the region Tuesday afternoon to early evening followed by the next shortwave later in the evening. At the same time, the sfc system should track toward the Delmarva with the trailing cold front approaching the area to end the period. Temperatures peaking in the upper 50s to upper 60s in the far weest and southwest along with dewpoints rise to near 50 or the low 50s would result in limited SBCAPE of not much more than 100 to 200 J/kg if that while MUCAPE reaches 250 to 500 J/kg with bulk shear on the order of 50KT. 12Z HREF Max 2-5km UH probs are higher west of the region into the southern IN to Central KY in the Louisville vicinity late Tuesday afternoon and evening. 06Z REFS probs are also greater from around I-75 west with a local max in probabilities in the Cumberland Valley area for Tuesday evening. The 18Z HRRR for example has some signals for gustiness with showers/possible storms near or north of the Mtn Pkwy late Tuesday afternoon to early evening and keeps the more robust convection with a concentration of UH swaths nearer to the Louisville area as well and other swaths mainly west of I-75. If there is an initial somewhat gusty line of showers/storms it may be followed by a second round of gusty showers later in the evening in the west and especially southwest and with mid level lapse rates peaking near 7C/km in the evening marginally large hail may also be a concern. Social media weatherstory posts will be sent to highlight the Marginal Risk. Chances for showers should wane late Tuesday night as the cold front sags further into the Commonwealth. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday through Monday) Issued at 210 PM EST MON NOV 17 2025 Early Wednesday morning, numerous showers will likely be ongoing from a mid-level disturbance that was working its way trough Kentucky Tuesday evening. The warm front from this system is expected to stall out, becoming a stationary front located around the Bluegrass area. The lows center and subsequent short wave trough axis will also be passing through Eastern Kentucky early Wednesday morning. Isolated to scattered showers will be most likely earlier in the morning, tapering off later in the afternoon as the system progress Northeast into the Mid-Atlantic states. Elsewhere by Wednesday morning, models are in fairly good agreement of an upper level low off the Baja, California cost, and a secondary upper level low futher north and west off the coastline of British Columbia, Canada. Through the day Wednesday this "Baja-Low" moves onshore, and over the 4-Corners area of the Southwest US. The downstream (eastward side) of the upper level low will pull in deep moisture rich air from the Gulf and around the sub-tropical high. By Thursday, the systems warm front is expected to push northward across the Mid-Mississippi Valley, producing another round of showers, increasing in coverage heading into the evening. Thunderstorm chances also increase Thursday evening and overnight. By Friday morning, most models agree on the warm front sitting north of the area, into the Ohio River Valley, with a stationary front extending west toward the lows center in the Ozarks. Shower chances remain high through Friday as shower activity will likely ride the stationary boundary across the area from the Ozarks. Obviously boundary location is particularly important as the next few day evolve to see where most persistent rains set up. Current guidance has this upper-level low progressing eastward through the morning Saturday, leading to shower chances being greatest in the morning, but slowly diminishing through the afternoon. The secondary upper-low that was near British Columbia previously, is modeled to become a closed low over the Baja Peninsula, Saturday morning. Models, and ensembles are struggling with the upstream pattern Friday through next weekend. Overall the NBM is trending slightly warmer run to run, decreasing confidence in the timing and strength of a cold frontal passage this weekend. This can be seen in a large range of probabilistic temperature forecasts in the NBM from Friday night onwards. At current, Sunday and Monday look to be trending dry, however with the degree of uncertainty NBM PoPs of 15% were left in the forecast each day, resulting in slight chance of rain showers wording remaining. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Tuesday afternoon) ISSUED AT 140 PM EST MON NOV 17 2025 VFR conditions will prevail through the period, though clouds will increase generally after 00Z and then thicken and lower mainly after 06Z as a warm front approaches, but still remain the VFR ranges through 18Z as the warm front nears. Some reductions to MVFR are possible after around 12Z in any heavier showers. PROB30 groups is included for MVFR cigs and -SHRA were used for several of the TAF during that time. Winds will generally be light and variable through 12Z, and then become southeast to south at up to 10KT. && .JKL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...JP LONG TERM...GINNICK AVIATION...JP