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FXUS61 KOKX 102057
AFDOKX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service New York NY
357 PM EST Sat Feb 10 2024

.SYNOPSIS...
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A cold front passes through tonight, with weak high pressure left in its wake Sunday through Monday afternoon. Deepening low pressure approaches from the southwest Monday night and will pass south and east of Long Island on Tuesday. High pressure returns Wednesday into Thursday before a Clipper low passes through Thursday night into Friday. High pressure may briefly return next Saturday.
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&& .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM SUNDAY MORNING/...
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A cold front shifts through the forecast area tonight. The front will be somewhat weak and slow as the flow aloft remains fairly flat. Best chances of showers will be over Orange County and surrounding areas into early this evening where there is some residual CAPE, but chances of showers will exist across the entire area. The cold front will be south and east of us by daybreak, but we`ll be left with mid and high level clouds. This cloud cover will help promote low temperatures in upper 30s inland and 40-45 for coastal areas, which are more typical of daytime highs this time of year.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY/...
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Weak surface high pressure will be in control of the weather through this period with the flow aloft remaining zonal. Although it will be dry, it`ll remain on the cloudy side as mid and high level clouds extend in from the south. Perhaps some thinning out heading toward the end of the day. It`ll be relatively mild in spite of this with high temperatures near 50 for NYC metro and mid to upper 40s elsewhere. Looks like clouds diminish further during Sunday night, and this will help allow low temperatures fall into the upper 20s for the northernmost zones and Pine Barrens, with 30s everywhere else. Not much change for Monday as we remain dry with highs again mostly 45-50 across the area. The main difference will likely be with the cloud cover. Expecting more in the way of clouds in the afternoon vs the morning this time around.
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&& .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/...
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A winter storm will impact the region Monday night into Tuesday. * A Winter Storm Watch has been issued for Orange, Rockland, Putnam, N Westchester, W Passaic, W Bergen, N Fairfield, N New Haven, N Middlesex, and N New London 06z Tuesday through 23z Tuesday. * A plowable, advisory level snow is possible for Southern Westchester, coastal CT and portions of NE NJ west of the I-95 corridor. * Uncertainty remains on the track of the deepening low pressure and timing of transition to snow in the NYC metro and Long Island corridor. * Temperatures will be near to slightly below normal. * Mainly dry weather expected Tuesday night through the beginning of next weekend with a quick moving clipper system possible Thursday night into Friday. Confidence continues to increase that a fast moving winter storm will impact the region Monday night into Tuesday. The modeling is still showing quite a range of solutions regarding the track of the deepening low pressure. However, the main features in the middle and upper levels are continuing to get better resolved. Differences arise with the strength of the southern stream shortwave and the confluent flow over the northeast. The modeling may fluctuate over the next day or so as the northern stream may take some time to get fully resolved. The models and ensembles (GFS, ECMWF, GEFS mean, EPS mean) that have a stronger, closed, and more compact 500 mb low have the surface low tracking further north towards western PA and then transferring off the Delaware, Southern NJ coast late Monday night and then south and east of Long Island Tuesday morning. Other modeling and some ensemble members show a less compact 500 mb low and more confluence do not track the primary as far NW yielding a surface low track further south off the Middle Atlantic on Tuesday. In either case, there is consistency that the northern and southern branches of the polar jet will not phase until the system gets east of the area. The amount of cold air for the system to work with remains a concern, but there is enough evidence for inland areas to have sufficient cold air to work with for predominately snow to fall late Monday night into Tuesday. Closer to the coast the boundary layer is marginal with temperatures likely starting out in the upper 30s to around 40 Monday night and then slowly falling into Tuesday morning as the system deepens and starts to pull down some slightly colder air. Dynamical cooling will likely play a roll as the system wraps up Tuesday morning, but its always a question of how much of that will lower surface temperatures as one nears the NYC metro and Long Island. There is some concern that the dynamics within the cold conveyor belt around the NW side of the low will be sufficient to cool the boundary layer just enough for a period of snow at the coast. The question remains on the intensity and how will much will accumulate. Based on collaboration with neighboring offices, have issued a Winter Storm Watch for the interior where confidence is highest in seeing warning criteria being met. This is also where there is the greatest potential for heavy snow banding to coincide with colder temperatures. Ensemble probabilities including the latest NBM paint about a 60-70 percent chance of seeing greater than 6 inches in this region. Further south, confidence decreases especially towards the coast. Probabilities along the coast are lower indicating the region with greatest uncertainty due to the aforementioned factors above. NBM probabilities for an Advisory level snow are around 30 percent near the coast. Think this may be a bit high given the marginal temperatures and modeling generally biasing towards a 10:1 ratio. If the further south low tracks end up verifying, then snow amounts down to the coast may end up higher. The latest snowfall forecast has 6-8 inches in the watch areas with some higher amounts closer to 10 in the higher elevations down to a 3-5 inch heading further south towards the CT coast and then 1-2 inches in the NYC metro and Long Island. A reasonable worse case scenario in this region of around 4-6 inches if colder scenarios, further south scenarios verify. A reasonable worst case scenario reaches around a foot well inland. Gusty winds are possible with the system, 25-35 mph, strongest near the coast. Dry conditions will return Tuesday night. There was not much change with the rest of the long term period. The main story will be temperatures slightly below normal to normal the rest of the week into the first half of next weekend. Mainly dry conditions are forecast with a fast moving clipper system passing through the northeast Thursday night into Friday.
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&& .AVIATION /20Z SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...
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A cold front will pass through tonight. Weak high pressure will then follow in its wake through Monday afternoon. Mainly VFR. Can not rule out a brief shower ahead of cold fropa early this evening, even a tstm info KSWF. Timing should be across the lower Hudson Valley from 22Z-24Z, NYC metros/KBDR from 23Z-01Z, and KISP/KGON from 00Z-02Z. SW-WSW flow less than 10 kt may briefly back SW-S before fropa (not indicated in TAF). Winds shift WNW less than 10 kt after fropa, and eventually become NW late tonight. NW flow around 10 kt expected after 13Z Sunday. ...NY Metro (KEWR/KLGA/KJFK/KTEB) TAF Uncertainty... Brief -SHRA possible from about 23Z-01Z with cold fropa. Winds could also back more SW-S during this time frame. OUTLOOK FOR 18Z SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... Sunday...VFR. Monday...Mainly VFR. Monday night...IFR or lower cond likely. At KSWF/KHPN, rain or a snow/rain mix, changing to all snow after midnight. Elsewhere, rain possibly mixing with snow late. NE winds 10-15 G20-25 kt late, highest NYC metro/coast. Tuesday...IFR or lower cond likely. Precip changing to all snow by late morning. Snow tapering off from W-E during the afternoon, with cond possibly becoming VFR late. NE-N winds 15-20 G25-30kt, becoming NW in the afternoon. Tuesday night through Wednesday night...VFR. NW winds 10-15G20kt daytime, and 10-15G20kt at night. Thursday: Mainly VFR. W winds 10-15G20kt. Detailed information, including hourly TAF wind component forecasts, can be found at: https:/www.weather.gov/zny/n90
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&& .MARINE...
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A cold front will move through the waters tonight, but winds will remain below advisory thresholds with its passage. An easterly swell will maintain seas around 4 ft on the ocean, and maybe waves reach 5 ft at times, but prevailing conditions would preclude a SCA. Swell/seas slowly subside a little on Sunday, and winds across all waters are expected to be at 10kt or less with weak high pressure over the area. Tranquil conditions then continue into Monday. NE winds increase Monday night ahead of an approaching deepening low pressure system from the southwest. The low then passes just south and east of the ocean waters on Tuesday. This will allow winds to potentially reach gales on the ocean on Tuesday. In collaboration with neighboring offices, have issued a gale watch for Tuesday. Otherwise, SCA conditions are likely late Monday night through Wednesday. Winds behind the low also look strong to help keep the potential for SCA conditions going. SCA winds may persist into Thursday on the ocean waters, but ocean seas should subside below 5 ft Wednesday night.
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&& .HYDROLOGY... There are no hydrologic issues expected at this time. && .TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...
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Minor coastal flooding will be possible across multiple high cycles through Monday night. Have issued a long-running statement for the western Sound as water levels with each high tide may touch or barely surpass thresholds at Stamford and/or Bridgeport. Advisories will be issued for the next two AM high cycles for S Nassau. Per blend of bias-corrected Stevens NYHOPS/ETSS/ESTOFS guidance, a storm passing through Mon night-Tue has potential to produce moderate flooding on the western Sound, the Long Island south shore bays of SW Suffolk/Nassau, and lower NY Harbor, and minor flooding elsewhere. Winds will be backing N around the time of high tide which could keep levels from touching moderate benchmarks on the Sound/Harbor. Have not yet issued coastal flood watches for this time frame because of that, and also to avoid confusion with ongoing earlier minor flooding.
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&& .OKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
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CT...Winter Storm Watch from late Monday night through Tuesday afternoon for CTZ005>008. NY...Winter Storm Watch from late Monday night through Tuesday afternoon for NYZ067>070. Coastal Flood Advisory from 7 AM to 11 AM EST Sunday for NYZ179. Coastal Flood Advisory from 8 AM to noon EST Monday for NYZ179. NJ...Winter Storm Watch from late Monday night through Tuesday afternoon for NJZ002-103. MARINE...Gale Watch from Tuesday morning through Tuesday afternoon for ANZ350-353-355.
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&& $$ SYNOPSIS...JC/DS NEAR TERM...JC SHORT TERM...JC LONG TERM...DS AVIATION...BG MARINE...JC/DS HYDROLOGY...JC/DS TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING...BG