000
FXUS61 KOKX 130251
AFDOKX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service New York NY
1051 PM EDT Sat Aug 12 2023

.SYNOPSIS...
A cold front approaches the region tonight, moving in late
tonight into Sunday. The cold front moves east of the region
Sunday night with weak high pressure building in thereafter.
High pressure pushes offshore Monday before another frontal
system impacts the area Monday night and Tuesday. High pressure
returns for Wednesday and Thursday, with a warm front possibly
lifting north Thursday night. A cold front approaches the region
Friday.

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.NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM SUNDAY MORNING/...
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Severe Thunderstorm Watch in effect for western 1/2 of the CWA. Widespread shower/tstm activity across Central and eastern PA along pre- frontal trough expected to slide E/SE into the watch area. Shortwave forcing trigger, pre- frontal trough focus, increasing deep layer shear and steeper mid-level lapse rates point towards isolated to scattered strong to severe tstm activity working into areas N&W of NYC this evening. Less confidence in how well this activity maintains it strength towards the coastal portions of the watch area late this evening towards midnight, with waning diurnal instability a limiting factor. Flash flood threat in path of an W to E training convection. This is currently favored across the mid- Hudson valley for the next couple of hours, but could slip south into Lower Hud and SW CT in vicinity of outflow boundaries later this evening. Convection should decrease in intensity after midnight as it continues east into a stabilizing airmass. Previous Discussion... The main focus will be on the potential for strong and/or severe convection, which looks to be mainly tonight when the higher bulk shear moves in. There will be another few rounds of showers and thunderstorms for tonight. CAMs vary with their respective depictions of reflectivity and cell structures across the local region so timing could vary. Challenging forecast to pinpoint specific timing and spatial windows for each round of convection. Generally expect the showers and thunderstorms to encompass much of the interior going into early this evening, getting closer to the coast and NYC by mid to late evening, and then become more likely across Southern Connecticut and Long Island overnight. There will be a pre-frontal trough moving in this evening with a cold front moving in behind that for overnight. The speed of the thunderstorms will limit the flood threat but models indicate high precipitable waters near 2 inches so flooding will still be possible. Also, still a severe thunderstorm threat with marginal to slight risk for severe thunderstorms with an enhanced risk for Western Orange County NY. With higher wind speeds aloft and increased storm motion, already have an environment with relatively large shear to allow for thunderstorms to get organized and deep vertical motion. Models indicate bulk shear 0-6 km AGL of 35-50 kt. The instability from CAPE for tonight, generally near 500 to 1000 J/kg, relatively higher across the coastal regions. Overall, severe threat highest going into early evening especially across Lower Hudson Valley, SW CT and Northeast NJ as well as into NYC. Then, severe threat shifts farther east across the coastal areas across Long Island and the rest of Southern CT for late evening into overnight. Main severe threat will be strong wind gusts but large hail and a brief tornado will be possible especially north and west of NYC where the probabilities for strong wind gusts, hail and a brief tornado are relatively higher. The potential for a brief tornado is seen from an increase in forecast low level helicity to values near 150 to a little over 200 indicated by the NAM and RAP models in the BUFKIT data. This is from the low level veering of winds from S to SW and wind speeds increasing from surface to low levels as well. With larger scale operational models with NAM, GFS, ECMWF, and Canadian, they mostly convey under a quarter of an inch in rain accumulation by 8PM tonight. All of these models show more rain between 8PM tonight and 8AM Sunday and spread across mainly the northern half of the CWA from west to east, total run accumulation around a half to 0.75 inch of rain. There will likely be some higher amounts of rain. Have these higher rain amounts closer to 1 to 1.25 inches of rain across parts of the interior. There could even be some locally higher amounts up to near 2 inches of rain. Lows tonight were from NBM 50th percentile and consensus of raw data, ranging only from the upper 60s to lower 70s for much of the forecast region.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... Mid levels show a zonal pattern but there will be some slight ridging during Sunday. At the surface, the cold front Sunday morning will be within the area, prolonging showers and thunderstorms especially across Long Island and Southern Connecticut morning into early afternoon. There will still be bulk shear 0-6km AGL near 35-40 kt, and surface CAPE reaching near near 1000 J/kg from NAM and GFS forecast model data. Model BUFKIT soundings indicate warmer temperatures just above 10kft acting as some convective inhibition. Will keep thunderstorms just chance but if there are thunderstorms, they could be strong and a very low chance (less than 5 percent) of severe. POPs for showers and thunderstorms will decrease substantially mid to late Sunday afternoon with totally dry conditions expected Sunday night. The front shifts east of the region Sunday night, allowing for surface winds to become more westerly, advecting in drier air. Instability will considerably decrease and dry conditions should prevail as weak high pressure builds in. High temperatures forecast Sunday used a blend of NBM/MET/MAV with a range from the low to upper 80s. The upper 80s forecast are mostly across Northeast NJ and NYC Metro Area where there will be less clouds and less rain. Expecting more radiational cooling Sunday night, with not much cloud coverage and light winds and therefore a more vast range for low temperatures, from upper 50s to lower 70s. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Weak surface ridging holds on long enough during the daytime on Monday to keep any showers from moving in from the west as the next storm system approaches from the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes. Highs near normal at 80-85. Another shortwave will approach from the Great Lakes region Monday night, and move through Tuesday into Tuesday night. A wave of low pressure will track along a nearly stationary cold front south of the region Monday night. This will bring a warm front near or into the region Monday night into Tuesday. Precipitable water values will be increasing to 2 to nearly 2 1/4 inches Monday night, and with forcing, instability, and surface CAPE increasing with the front, convection is expected to develop with periods of moderate to heavy rainfall possible. The 90% percentile from SPC`s sounding climatology page is 1.75 inches, so very humid air will move into there area for this time of year. WPC currently has the region under a marginal risk for excessive rainfall, so flash flooding is a possibility, especially if heavy rain moves in during preceding days. There is uncertainty as to where the warm front will be, and a track farther to the north could bring the heavier rainfall into the region. The frontal system will be progressive as the upper trough weakens and passes to the east Tuesday night. A mid-level ridge continues to build into the area Wednesday into Thursday while high pressure builds in at the surface, keeping the region dry through the period. Then another shortwave digs into the Great Lakes and upper midwest Thursday night into Friday before becoming negative during Friday. At this time there are minimal chance for precipitation Friday. && .AVIATION /03Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...
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A cold front approaches and moves across the region early Sunday. Mainly VFR, except MVFR or lower possible in showers and thunderstorms. Southerly flow around 10 kt will continue to lightening (and possibly becoming variable) overnight before becoming westerly on Sunday. An area of showers and thunderstorms west of the region will move across the region overnight. Will continue with TEMPO groups til 06z, then just a chance of SHRA afterwards. There is a chance that thunder may continue past 6z. Some of these storms may produce locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds, however, coverage and timing remain low confidence. Conditions dry out and return to VFR everywhere by 12z Sunday. ...NY Metro (KEWR/KLGA/KJFK/KTEB) TAF Uncertainty... Low confidence in timing and coverage of shower and thunderstorm activity tonight. Amendments likely. OUTLOOK FOR 00Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... Sunday: VFR. Monday through Tuesday: VFR Monday, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms Monday night and Tuesday with MVFR or lower possible. Wednesday: VFR. Thursday: VFR. Detailed information, including hourly TAF wind component forecasts, can be found at: https:/www.weather.gov/zny/n90
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&& .MARINE... The pressure gradient will be relatively weak enough to keep conditions on the forecast waters below SCA thresholds through the rest of this weekend and into Monday. With a persistent southerly flow Monday night into Tuesday, ahead of a cold front, ocean waters likely build to around 5 feet Tuesday afternoon, then subside Tuesday night as winds shift to the west due to a cold frontal passage. Marginal seas possible once again for the central and eastern oceans zone for Wednesday and Friday morning, subsiding during the afternoons of both days. Winds should remain below 25 kt on all waters From Monday onward. && .HYDROLOGY... Marginal to slight risk of flash flooding, layer precipitable waters reach up to near 2 inches for tonight. There will be potential for training of cells from parallel flow low to upper levels, but mean storm motion judging from looking at winds between 10 and 20 kft, stay generally in a 25-40 kt range. Individual thunderstorm complexes will be rapid moving. It just a matter of how deep the convection gets and how large the structure is that moves across that will be a main factor to assess for flooding potential. CAMs late tonight indicate in terms of structure a MCS moving across with some variance in terms of locations within the forecast region of where the most intense part of the MCS occurs. Minor flooding will be likely as the MCS moves across especially with low lying, poor drainage and urban areas with a marginal to slight risk for flash flooding. From Monday night into Tuesday, brief periods of moderate to heavy rainfall may produce isolated flash flooding. The Weather Prediction Center has placed the entire area in a marginal risk for flash flooding. Currently, the more likely scenario is for minor urban and poor drainage/nuisance flooding. From Tuesday night through the end of the week no hydrologic impacts are expected. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING... There is a moderate risk for rip currents on ocean beaches Sunday with wave heights around 3 ft. There is a low risk for rip currents on NYC and Nassau Co beaches on Monday with wave heights around 2 ft, and a moderate risk for Suffolk Co beaches, where wave heights will be around 3 ft. && .OKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. NJ...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...JM/JP NEAR TERM...JM/NV SHORT TERM...JM LONG TERM...JP AVIATION...BC MARINE...JM/JP HYDROLOGY...JM/JP TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...