000
FXUS61 KOKX 191956
AFDOKX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service New York NY
356 PM EDT Tue Mar 19 2024

.SYNOPSIS...
-- Changed Discussion --
A warm front passes through tonight. This will be followed by a cold front Wednesday afternoon into evening. High pressure will be in control Thursday night into Friday. Low pressure to the west and an inverted trough emanating from low pressure to the south pivot through Saturday. The low shifts offshore for the second half of the weekend as high pressure builds Sunday. The high will be in control early next week, followed by a warm front approaching late Tuesday
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING/...
-- Changed Discussion --
Low pressure just north of the Great Lakes tracks east tonight, pushing a warm front across the forecast area. Isentropic lift ahead of this front along with increasing mid level shortwave forcing and moisture will bring a chance of light precip this evening. NVA and drying in the lower levels should keep us dry overnight. Regarding precip type. Wet bulb zero heights are cold enough to support snow in most spots, but the limiting factor will be freezing level heights. Snow or mixed snow showers possible north of the city, with rain showers possible elsewhere.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY/...
-- Changed Discussion --
The low center to our north continues to head east, dragging a cold front across the area late in the day Wednesday into early evening. Chances of showers begin near noon for western portions with the last threat over the eastern zones by around 9 PM. The highest chances will be toward the northern zones as shortwave lift will be stronger here. Breezy behind the cold front with a gusty WNW flow in a cold air advection regime. Gusts of 20-30 mph expected. Breezy conditions continue into Thursday as high pressure builds in from the west with low pressure slowly moving through the Canadian Maritimes, maintaining a relatively tight pressure gradient over here. Deep WNW flow with low level downsloping should be able to offset the low amount of moisture trying to advect in from the Great Lakes. Will therefore keep with a dry forecast with mostly sunny conditions. It`ll be colder than normal however, with highs from the upper 30s to mid 40s along with wind chills making it feel about 10 degrees colder.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/...
-- Changed Discussion --
*Pattern Overview* The northern branch of the jet stream with its strong confluence zone across the area deposits high pressure to begin the period Thursday night into Friday. This will bring seasonably cold and dry conditions. The confluence zone then lifts out paving the way for a weak disturbance from the west and upper level energy in the southern branch to move towards the area for the first half of the weekend. The trough then lifts and potentially closes along the coast into Sunday and possibly into a portion of Monday. The trough along the west coast will then pivot through the Rockies late in the weekend and get into the Plains for early next week. This will result in rising 500 mb heights further downstream along the Eastern seaboard towards Tuesday. The rise in heights across our area may get delayed with a closed low stubborn to exit the eastern seaboard. *Details* High pressure delivers a dry and chilly air mass for Thursday night into Friday. The winds will gradually diminish Thursday night as wind chill values are expected to get down into the teens to lower 20s late at night and for early Friday morning. The high will then settle over the area Friday with light winds. Temperatures will remain below normal with highs mainly in the lower and middle 40s. Towards Friday evening clouds will increase from the west as a weak disturbance approaches from the west. Much of Friday night should remain dry as lift should remain weak, at least through the first half of the night. Then towards Saturday morning low pressure gets to the southeastern coast and moisture from the primary western system moves into western portions of the CWA. At the onset there may be some snowflakes / wintry mix across far northern and northwestern sections. However, a quick transition to plain rain is expected. The mid and upper levels winds become more southerly as an inverted trough as indicated by NWP is progged to move into the area. This will serve as an axis of moisture. The ECMWF and GEM has now come around more to the ICON and GFS solutions with the moisture axis setting up right along coastal sections into the day on Saturday. Thus it now appears likely that rain will move from south to north across the area on Saturday, and potentially into Saturday night and into a portion of Sunday. The global model guidance consensus points to the rain being focused over the eastern half of the area and this is where the highest potential of 1+ inch amounts will be. Overall, rain on the order of 0.50 to 1.50 inches is expected for the first half of the weekend with the higher amounts further east where flash flood guidance would be higher. See the hydrology section regarding further details. Questions are abound for Sunday and Sunday night, and even into early Monday as a lot of the guidance is now closing off the 500 mb low. This would serve to slow the progression of the system and would keep clouds in place for the remainder of the weekend along with shower chances. Eventually towards Monday the low and trough axis are expected to pivot out of the area with heights building once the low can get out of the way. Therefore look for unsettled conditions for the majority of the weekend. Monday at this point is filled with uncertainty as to whether the upper level low will remain stalled, or pivots to the east. Once this happens a milder southerly flow with building heights should allow temperatures to return to normal on Tuesday. Temperatures are expected to remain close to normal overall, with daytime temperatures expected to average slightly below normal through the period.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .AVIATION /20Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/...
-- Changed Discussion --
A cold front passes late Wed. VFR through at least 16Z Wed. Sct shwrs mainly aft 18Z Wed could produce brief periods of MVFR. There is a chance a few of the shwrs cold mix with IP or SN, especially N of the NYC arpts. WNW winds back to the W this eve and SW overnight. Winds veer a little to the W behind the front late Wed. NY Metro (KEWR/KLGA/KJFK/KTEB) TAF Uncertainty... Gusts could be a few kt higher at times, especially this afternoon. End time of gusts may be off by 1-2 hours this evening. Winds may shift closer to 300 true around 22-23Z Wed. Timing uncertain so no additional group was added to the TAFs attm. OUTLOOK FOR 18Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... Rest of Wednesday: Brief MVFR possible in the afternoon and early evening. SW winds becoming NW 22-03Z. Thursday: VFR. NW wind gusts around 30 kt. Friday: VFR through early evening. MVFR or lower possible overnight with chances for rain near coast and rain/snow inland. Saturday: MVFR or lower at times. Mainly rain likely. SE wind gusts 20-25 kt during the day, becoming NW with higher gusts at night. Sunday: VFR with gusty N winds. Detailed information, including hourly TAF wind component forecasts, can be found at: https:/www.weather.gov/zny/n90
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .MARINE...
-- Changed Discussion --
SCA on the non-ocean waters will be allowed to continue for the rest of this afternoon. Thereafter, maybe a gust or two reaching criteria early this evening. Otherwise, next chance of advisory conditions will be late day Wednesday, but more likely Wednesday night into Thursday. SCA may be issued for at least Weds night once the current advisory expires. On the ocean, although there will be a period late tonight into a portion of Weds morning where conditions will likely prevail under advisory criteria, decided to extend the SCA all the way through Weds night as advisory conditions become more probable by Weds afternoon. After collaboration, have decided to hold off on a Gale Watch (more likely on the ocean) as there is higher confidence in SCA conditions prevailing through the period. There could be a couple of periods Weds night (right behind the cold front in the evening) into Thursday (in the morning before winds slowly subside) where gales could occur. Will leave the mention of this in the HWO for now. Small craft conditions subside Thursday night as the pressure gradient relaxes. Lighter winds will result in sub small craft conditions Friday. Late Friday night and Saturday morning a SE flow increases with small craft conditions returning to the ocean waters and the most of the near shore waters, with the possible exception of NY Harbor and Western LI Sound. Seas will climb quickly Saturday afternoon on the ocean waters with ocean seas reaching 10 to 12 feet by Saturday night as small craft conditions will prevail on the near shore waters and gale conditions a good bet on the ocean waters. Gale conditions are also possible on the eastern near shore waters also at this time. A strong and prolonged N to NE flow will take place Sunday and likely linger into the early part of next week with strong high pressure to the north and low pressure offshore.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .HYDROLOGY...
-- Changed Discussion --
No hydrologic impacts are expected through Thursday. Rain on the order of 0.50 to 1.50 inches is expected for the first half of the weekend. At this point in time the only anticipated hydrologic impacts would be minor nuisance urban flooding as FFG has recovered some over the past week from previous rain events. There remains some elevated pockets of soil moisture, but the coverage of elevated soil moisture has decreased some. As of now the axis of steadier, heavier rainfall would be over eastern areas where flash flood guidance is relatively higher. Widespread significant flooding is therefore not expected at this time, but forecast uncertainty regarding the placement of the axis of heaviest rainfall remains high.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& .OKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
-- Changed Discussion --
CT...None. NY...None. NJ...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 6 PM EDT this evening for ANZ331- 332-335-338-340-345. Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM EDT Thursday for ANZ350-353- 355.
-- End Changed Discussion --
&& $$ SYNOPSIS...JC/JE NEAR TERM...JC SHORT TERM...JC LONG TERM...JE AVIATION...JMC MARINE...JC/JE HYDROLOGY...JC/JE