Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Burlington, VT

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232 FXUS61 KBTV 150231 AFDBTV Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Burlington VT 1031 PM EDT Tue May 14 2024 .SYNOPSIS... Showers and thunderstorms will wind down overnight tonight, but the unsettled weather pattern will continue over the next few days. Several rounds of showers are expected through the rest of the week, with Friday having the best potential to remain mostly dry. Temperatures will remain seasonable through the weekend as well, with highs generally in the 60s and 70s and lows in the 40s and 50s. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY/...
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As of 1030 PM EDT Tuesday...Forecast remains on track so only made minor changes to bring it up to date. RAP mesoanalysis shows a frontal boundary draped across southern Essex county in NY into Addison county, and this is where a thunderstorm is located. Despite the relatively slow forward motion, flooding is not a concern as rainfall rates are quite manageable. Expect thunder chances to wane after midnight, with rainfall tapering into isolated showers. Patchy fog could also develop across northern NY and northern/central VT with the recent rainfall and dew point depressions generally less than 5 degrees. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...Scattered showers with isolated thunderstorms will continue through the rest of this afternoon into the evening hours, especially from the Adirondacks eastward into north- central/central VT. The main threat from this activity will be briefly heavy rainfall. Given fairly unidirectional flow and a slow moving frontal boundary just to our north, training of cells will be a concern. Flooding is not anticipated, but ponding of water in poor drainage areas will be possible, especially in locations that see multiple showers/storms. Otherwise, have already seen one or two more robust thunderstorms this afternoon, with a couple of reports of small hail. Strong winds will be possible in stronger storms, as well. Strong storms will continue to be possible through 7 pm or so, and while an isolated marginally severe thunderstorm can`t be totally ruled out, the risk is low with widespread severe not anticipated. Showers and thunderstorms will wind down this evening as we lose daytime heating and instability. The front will make a slow push southward overnight, eventually hanging up somewhere over northern/central portions of our forecast area. Moisture will linger however, keeping plenty of clouds around. Some patchy fog or drizzle will be possible as well. The moisture will also serve to keep temperatures from cooling much overnight, and lows will be in the 50s areawide. The front will lift back north on Wednesday, allowing showers to once again develop, especially in the afternoon. Moist profiles and poor lapse rates will limit instability, so not anticipating any thunderstorms. With little in the way of sunshine, highs will be cooler than today, especially in central/southern sections. Highs will be in the mid 60s to around 70F. Like today, showers will wane in the evening as we lose daytime heating. Lows will be similar to tonight, perhaps a few degrees cooler.
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&& .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT/... As of 336 PM EDT Tuesday...On Thursday there will be pretty pronounced upper level ridging that will stifle any showers that can develop in weakly unstable environment. Overall the pattern should support mainly dry weather between isolated, slow moving and light showers. High temperatures should be a few to several degrees warmer than on Wednesday with more low level dry air and lower cloud cover, especially as one goes west. While winds will be light, there seems to be some uncertainty as to the low level flow. The latest forecast shows greater northerly flow down the Champlain Valley associated with Canadian high pressure nosing southward, while a weak southeasterly low level regime develops in eastern Vermont tied to the closed low drifting over the western Atlantic. Overall, between this low level flow and a ton of dry air aloft I don`t foresee any significant shower activity despite the 30-50% PoPs during the day, with greatest chances of rainfall generally in northern Vermont shifting eastward with time. Any diurnally driven, light showers should taper off quickly Thursday night with lack of any large scale forcing and continued height rises. Would expect patchy fog could develop overnight in the typical, localized valley locations with light wind and probable clearing skies. Many areas should fully decouple which will probably see lower temperatures than currently indicated, but there is no threat of frost conditions with a relatively mild air mass in place. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... As of 336 PM EDT Tuesday...The large scale weather pattern doesn`t look to change much through early next week with a tendency towards troughing. The resulting unsettled weather will remain largely unimpactful due to deeper moisture being shunted south of the area by convergent upper level flow. One notable shift in the forecast has been towards warmer conditions on Friday as brief ridging builds in. Probabilities of temperature exceeding 80 are now in the 35-45% range in a large swath of the Champlain Valley, and 20-35% in some other valley locations such as along the I-89 and I-91 corridors. So mid to upper 70s look to be rather common with spot 80 degree values, which would make it the warmest day so far this spring for many spots. The NWS HeatRisk product suggests the warmth could affect those who have extreme sensitivity to heat, especially given we`ve been mostly on the cool side recent. However, with some clouds and moderate humidity, it doesn`t look noteworthy as indicated by the WBGT values below the elevated threshold. A very weak cold front approaching from the west brings us higher chances of showers in northern New York by Friday night spreading areawide through Saturday. With no significant moisture or wind fields, would think no more than a brief downpour with this system. Moving into Sunday there remains some uncertainty with regards to the upper level pattern but still favoring a trough with some shower chances and lack of substantial instability. Most global model clusters favor height rises with a warmer day on Monday compared to Sunday, although about half of the 12Z EPS members do show a closed low to our northwest that point to a possible change in the forecast moving forward for early next week. More of the same for Tuesday so NBM temperatures near to a bit above normal both days look reasonable at this time along with largely 15 to 30% PoPs. && .AVIATION /03Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... Through 00Z Thursday...Scattered showers and a few thunderstorms, one southwest of KEFK and one south of KSLK, are progressing east across the region. Activity has been mainly scattered, with only localized impacts. But reductions to 2SM to 5SM are possible for any terminal to take a direct hit as scattered showers and storms continues through about 04z before thunder is completely out of the picture. Tonight`s main challenge is whether there will be drizzle or patchy fog along the international border impacting KEFK, KMSS, and KPBG from about 05z to 11z tied to a surface boundary. The picture isn`t clear on which it will be and when so have stuck to a blend of 4SM and 1500-2500 ft agl ceilings. Winds light and variable through about 12z. About 15z-16z, surface stationary front strengthens and numerous showers will begin to develop with ceilings falling to 1000-2500 ft agl and visibilities 3 to 6SM in heavier showers. There could be some improvement late in the day at KRUT and KMPV to VFR. Winds will become south to southwest 4 to 8 knots, but remain northeast at KMSS. Shower activity wanes after 22z. Outlook... Wednesday Night: Mainly VFR, with local MVFR possible. Chance SHRA. Thursday: Mainly VFR, with local MVFR possible. Chance SHRA. Thursday Night: VFR. NO SIG WX. Friday: VFR. Slight chance SHRA. Friday Night: VFR. Slight chance SHRA. Saturday: Mainly VFR, with areas MVFR possible. Chance SHRA. Saturday Night: MVFR/IFR conditions possible. Chance SHRA. Sunday: Mainly MVFR, with areas VFR possible. Chance SHRA. && .BTV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... VT...None. NY...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Hastings NEAR TERM...Chai/Hastings SHORT TERM...Kutikoff LONG TERM...Kutikoff AVIATION...Haynes