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FXUS61 KOKX 211804
AFDOKX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service New York NY
204 PM EDT Thu Mar 21 2024

.SYNOPSIS...
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High pressure will remain in control through tonight and into Friday. A frontal system approaches Friday night and moves across the region along with low pressure Saturday into Saturday night. High pressure ridges down from the north Sunday into Monday as low pressure slowly pushes further offshore. A frontal system approaches from the west midweek.
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&& .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM FRIDAY MORNING/...
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Forecast remains on track this afternoon. Temperatures and dewpoints for the past hour are all within a few degrees of observed values. An overall mostly sunny day with high temperatures mostly in the upper 30s to lower 40s still expected. These highs will be below normal for this time of year. Cold, dry air advection will continue leading to unseasonably chilly temperatures across the region. Surface high pressure will build in from the west, but its center will remain over the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. Low pressure continues to depart to the northeast across the Maritimes. The pressure gradient between the two systems will be enough to bring gusty NW winds through the day, generally 25 to 30 mph. Wind should begin to weaken late in the day as the gradient starts relaxing and the high draws closer. High pressure settles over the area tonight with winds diminishing. Mainly clear skies will be in place allowing for ideal radiational cooling conditions. Lows range from the upper teens/low 20s inland to low-mid 20s most elsewhere. Winds may stay up just enough in the NYC metro, so lows should be in the mid-upper 20s.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... High pressure remains in control Friday with temperatures below normal in the lower to middle 40s. A southern stream shortwave and associated low pressure will be moving across the southeast on Friday. At the same time, a northern stream broad upper trough and associated frontal system will be moving across the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. These two features will begin interacting Friday night leading to a significant rainfall event late Friday night into the first half of Saturday night. *Key Messages* *Moderate to locally heavy rainfall is becoming increasingly likely beginning as early as late Friday night and continuing into the first half of Saturday night. *Forecast rainfall amounts range from 2-3 inches for much of the area with locally higher amounts possible. Amounts may be slightly lower across the Lower Hudson Valley. However, the exact placement of the heaviest rain is still a bit uncertain leading to a risk of higher totals even across the NW. *Preliminary analysis of hourly rates indicate potential for 0.5 to 1 inch and hour are possible. These will need to be refined in subsequent forecasts, especially as the system gets into the time window of the high res models (HREF). *Minor flooding appears to be the main threat at this time given it is a relatively long duration rainfall event (6-12 hours). However, we cannot completely rule out a localized flash flood occurrence. *Increasing concerns for a few rivers/streams to exceed bankfull, especially if the higher rainfall amounts were to verify across NE NJ and Southern CT. This will be refined in the next 24-36 hours as we begin to get a look at higher res model data for the placement of the heaviest rainfall. *Winds with this system are not too strong and should generally be 25 mph or less for much of the area except the coast. Wind gusts actually increase (25-35 mph) after the rainfall on the backside of the system for Saturday night. *Coastal flooding/beach erosion risk appears low at this time. The aforementioned northern stream frontal system should be nearing the region early Saturday morning. Low pressure over the southeast will interact with this boundary helping to enhance rainfall up into the northeast. The northern stream and southern stream will then start interacting bring the low pressure towards Long Island by Saturday evening. Strong warm advection, deep moisture, and strong large scale lift are all present on Saturday. The region will also lie to south of 150-170 kt upper jet over southeast Canada and northern New England helping to enhance the lift over the region. The interaction with a frontal boundary also presents concerns for enhance moisture convergence. There will be enough progression of these systems, but there are signals present on much of the guidance supporting a heavy rainfall threat. Have also noted NBM probabilities increasing over the last few days for seeing greater than 2 inches. Uncertainty is greatest with the exact location of the heaviest rain, which should be refined in the next 24-36 hours as the system gets into the time range of the HREF. The low pressure pushes east of the area Saturday night with rain tapering off from west to east. Most of the rain should be over around midnight based on the latest model consensus. Northerly flow will quickly increase behind the system leading to gusty winds Saturday night, potentially 25-35 mph and strongest near the coast. Temperatures on Saturday should be able to rise into the lower to potentially middle 50s for all except the Lower Hudson Valley. Temperatures Saturday night quickly drop back into the 30s. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... No significant changes made to the long term, and stuck fairly close to the NBM for the period. Ensemble means depict mean troughing over the northeast to start the period with mean ridging building east by midweek. *Key Messages* * Lingering showers Sunday gives way to a short dry stretch Monday and Tuesday. * Unsettled, wet weather returns Wednesday and Thursday. * Normal to slightly below normal high temperatures Sunday and Monday with a warm up to above normal temperatures by midweek. Sfc low pressure continues to pull away from the region on Sunday, with lingering clouds and showers Sun AM, mainly across eastern sections of the CWA. Winds will remain elevated for at least the first half of Sunday as cloud cover continues to decrease with the departing system. Thereafter, high pressure builds in to the north which will result in NNE flow, and dry conditions though early Wednesday. Thereafter, the high heads east of the Canadian Maritimes as a surface low develops over the Northern Plains and heads east. This system will bring a frontal system to the area Wednesday and Thursday, with increasing precip chances starting Wednesday. Some global guidance is hinting at a secondary low developing along the cold front to the south, potentially prolonging precipitation chances locally into Thursday. Given this, have maintained chance PoPs through much of Thursday. && .AVIATION /18Z THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
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High pressure this afternoon through Friday. VFR. NW winds and gusts 15-25kt with G30kt will be diminishing after 00Z Friday. Winds becoming W around 10 kt. NY Metro (KEWR/KLGA/KJFK/KTEB) TAF Uncertainty... No unscheduled amendments expected. OUTLOOK FOR 12Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... 12z Friday: VFR. Friday night: MVFR or lower developing after midnight with rain near the coast and rain/snow inland. Saturday: IFR and rain. SE wind gusts 20-25kt during the day with LLWS possible city east, becoming N all areas with gusts 30-35kt at night. Sunday: VFR. A slight chance of rain. N-NE wind gusts around 25kt. Monday: VFR. NE gusts 20-25kt. Tuesday: VFR. 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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The pressure gradient remains tight between low pressure going into the Canadian Maritimes and high pressure to the north and west of the local waters. Gusty NW flow remains through this afternoon and into much of this evening before more substantially diminishing overnight. SCA for all forecast waters continues until 11PM. Then, with some lingering gusts and higher seas over the eastern parts of the forecast ocean waters, SCA from Fire Island to Montauk continue until 6AM Friday. After 11PM aside from these eastern ocean zones, sub-SCA conditions are expected. A relaxed pressure gradient will result in quieter conditions Friday. Increasing onshore flow Friday night will develop SCA conditions by Saturday morning on the ocean, and by the afternoon for the eastern bays and LI Sound. Widespread SCA conditions with gales on the ocean appears likely Saturday night. Gales look likely to continue through at least Sunday afternoon on the ocean waters and eastern LI sound. This period of gales may possibly last into Monday night, especially on the ocean waters. SCA conditions are likely elsewhere into Monday.
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&& .FIRE WEATHER... Based on collaboration with Fire WX partners and surrounding WFOs, there are special weather statements for the entire region with elevated fire weather concerns today into early this evening. Gusty winds around 25 to 30 mph are expected with Min RH values of 25 to 30 percent. The airmass remains anomalously dry as rainfall the last 24 hours was mostly under a tenth of an inch, therefore not sufficiently wetting the ground. && .HYDROLOGY... Moderate to locally heavy rainfall is becoming increasingly likely late Friday night into the first half of Saturday night. Forecast rainfall amounts range from 2-3 inches for much of the area with locally higher amounts possible. Amounts may be slightly lower across the Lower Hudson Valley. However, the exact placement of the heaviest rain is still a bit uncertain leading to a risk of higher totals even across the NW. Minor flooding appears to be the main threat at this time given it is a relatively long duration rainfall event (6-12 hours). However, an isolated flash flood occurrence cannot be ruled out. There are also increasing concerns for a few rivers/streams to exceed bankfull, especially if higher rainfall amounts were to verify across NE NJ and Southern CT. This is hinted at on the latest MMEFS data, especially for the Saddle River at Lodi, where the GEFS data is showing a 21 percent probability of reaching moderate flood stage. Residual river flooding may continue into Sunday should higher rainfall amounts be realized over the faster responding basins. Otherwise, no hydrologic impacts are expected from Sunday onward. && .OKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. NJ...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 11 PM EDT this evening for ANZ331- 332-335-338-340-345-355. Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM EDT Friday for ANZ350-353. && $$ SYNOPSIS...DBR/DS NEAR TERM...JM/DS SHORT TERM...DS LONG TERM...DBR AVIATION...IRD MARINE...JM/DBR/DS FIRE WEATHER... HYDROLOGY...DBR/DS