633
FXUS61 KOKX 140254
AFDOKX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service New York NY
954 PM EST Fri Dec 13 2024

.SYNOPSIS...
Strong high pressure gradually builds in through Saturday. The
strong high pressure area will move slowly north of the area
Saturday night and then into the Gulf of Maine for Sunday. A
weakening frontal system will approach Sunday night and move
across on Monday. A stronger frontal system will move across
Monday night into Tuesday, followed by high pressure Tuesday
night into Wednesday. A complex coastal low pressure system may
affect the region Wednesday Night into Friday.

&&

.NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM SATURDAY MORNING/...
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The forecast is on track with only minor changes needed. Main story for tonight, dry and very cold with strengthening high pressure building in from the Great Lakes. Most forecast lows in the teens to lower 20s. Aloft a trough will move east of the region tonight with ridging taking place across the local area behind this trough. The confluence behind the trough will strengthen an approaching high pressure area at the surface. This strengthening high pressure area builds in from the Great Lakes tonight. NAEFS showing negative anomalies of mainly between 1 to 2 standard deviations for temperatures throughout the atmospheric column tonight. Model 850mb temperatures around -10 to -12 degrees C are forecast for tonight. Mostly clear sky conditions along with light winds are in store for tonight so expecting efficient radiational cooling. Used relatively colder MET guidance for lows tonight, ranging from near 10 across northern interior and rural locations to lower 20s for portions along the coast and within NYC. Some single digit lows are forecast for parts of the interior.
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&& .SHORT TERM /6 AM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY/... Main story remains the strong high pressure and colder than normal temperatures. Core of cold airmass still in place to start the weekend with some moderation of the airmass on Sunday. Dry conditions continue. Ridging continues aloft Saturday through early Sunday. Ridge axis moves across late Sunday morning into early Sunday afternoon. Then, some height falls thereafter as the ridge exits east of the region and a trough approaches from the west. At the surface, strong high pressure will be across the region Saturday into Saturday night, with its center north of the region, in the vicinity of Northern NY State and Northern New England near the Canadian border. With generally light northerly flow expected Saturday, anticipating highs again staying well below normal for this time of year. Model 850mb temperatures near -8 to -11 degrees C. The high pressure moving in with its magnitude potentially getting to near 1050mb would be approaching record levels. See the climate section for more details. NAEFS continues to show negative anomalies of mainly between 1 to 2 standard deviations for temperatures throughout the atmospheric column Saturday. Used a blend of MAV/MET/NBM for high temperatures Saturday, ranging from the low to mid 30s for much of the region, with some smaller areas in the upper 30s. These are well below normal for this time of year. For Saturday night, even more efficient radiational cooling is expected with lighter winds (some area winds becoming calm) and mostly clear sky conditions. The forecast lows again used the relatively colder MET guidance but more range compared to the previous night from upper 20s within NYC to single digits for parts of the interior. Saturday night into Sunday, NAEFS negative anomalies remain at 200mb but trend to slightly more positive anomalies (between 1 and 2 standard deviations) at levels 700 to 500mb. 850mb positive anomalies appear Sunday afternoon also between 1 and 2 standard deviations. The strong high pressure area will move farther south Sunday, with the center of this high eventually moving into the Gulf of Maine. While the high pressure area will still be strong, the pressure tendency will be negative with its center decreasing in pressure. The approaching trough will be the converse of what was seen going into early Saturday, there will be a difluent pattern leading to mass divergence aloft throughout the day Sunday. Clouds will be on the increase during the day from west to east. However, with rising trend to temperatures aloft, vertical mixing will allow for warmer air to mix down to the surface adiabatically. Forecast high temperatures again used a MAV/MET/NBM blend, several degrees warmer than the previous day, reaching near 40 along much of the coast and NYC but more in the 30s for Northeast NJ, Lower Hudson Valley and Southern CT. Forecast highs are still below normal for this year. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... * Active and unsettled weather pattern next week * Wintry mix likely for Monday morning commute N&W of NYC. Icy conditions possible. * Potential late week coastal storm Active upper pattern setting up for next week with series of vigorous shortwaves tracking from the Gulf of Alaska across the northern tier of the CONUS, each successively deepening mean troughing across the NE US. The first feature being a closed upper low over the central US this weekend, shearing to the eastern Great Lakes by Sunday Night and then across the area Monday. This will be followed by a deeper Central US trough pivoting through the Great Lakes Monday Night, and then an even longitudinally deeper longwave trough approaching the eastern US late week. At the surface, the warm front of a weakening Great Lakes low approaches Sunday Night into Monday as strong surface high pressure gradually slides offshore. Tricky precip forecast late Sunday Night into Monday AM, based on timing of precip onset with initially dry airmass and strong surface high offshore, marginally cold thermal profile with a developing 950mb warm layer across the interior, and likely sub-freezing air and ground temps across the interior until after daybreak. For the coast, including NYC/NJ metro, sufficient boundary layer warming should allow precip to mainly fall as rain, but can`t rule out some icy spots for any places that can radiate in Sun eve. Thermal profiles should safely warm above freezing for the entire area by mid to late morning for plain rain, but with weak surface flow, interior valleys of LoHud and S CT could linger with patchy freezing rain into the afternoon with in-situ cold air damming. Have leaned towards a blend of WPC WSE and NBM POWT to determine potential footprint of freezing rain threat for Mon Am commute. Primary concern for a glaze of freezing rain is across valley locations of Orange, W Passaic, Putnam, and interior Fairfield and New Haven counties, where 3 days of near or sub-freezing high temps and early lows in the 20s Sunday Night with a transition to liquid precip in the early AM could result in patchy ground icing. Will address in HWO, with further refinement in the forecast through the weekend. Continued waa aloft should eventually end any lingering icing threat through the afternoon. Light rain should gradually taper off in the late aft/early eve as a shortwave aloft moves through with brief shortwave ridging building in. This drying will be very short-lived or non-existent as next quick moving shortwave and associated frontal system brings a quick shot of rain to the region later Monday Night into Tuesday morning. Continued waa ahead of this feature will support an all rain event. High pressure briefly builds in for Tue Night into Wed with seasonable temps, before potential for a complex coastal system for the late week period. Considerable inherent model spread on evolution of the anomalously deep trough for late week, manifesting in low pressure track and timing differences, but potential exists for a heavy precip event. && .AVIATION /03Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Strong high pressure will persist the next few days. VFR through the TAF period. NW-N less than 10 kt through the TAF period. ...NY Metro (KEWR/KLGA/KJFK/KTEB)TAF Uncertainty... No unscheduled amendments are expected. OUTLOOK FOR 00Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... Saturday Night: VFR. Sunday: MVFR cigs likely at the NYC metro/coastal terminals in the afternoon, spreading inland during the evening. Chance of a wintry mix at KSWF and rain elsewhere, mainly after midnight. Monday: Wintry mix still possible at KSWF early, otherwise light rain likely with MVFR or lower cond expected. Fog may develop at night with IFR cond possible. Tuesday: Light rain likely with IFR or lower cond possible. Wednesday: Mainly VFR. Detailed information, including hourly TAF wind component forecasts, can be found at: https:/www.weather.gov/zny/n90 && .MARINE... With strong high pressure in control, a weak enough pressure gradient will be in place to keep conditions on all waters below SCA thresholds through Sunday. Sub SCA condition Sunday Night into Monday morning with a weak pressure gradient. SE flow strengthens Monday Aft into Monday NIght, with SCA ocean seas possible by late Mon. SCA conds likely on the ocean Mon Night into Tue Night, possibly all waters for a period, with strengthening southerly flow and building ocean waves ahead of a cold frontal passage. && .HYDROLOGY... No hydrologic impacts are expected attm. && .CLIMATE... Very strong high pressure is forecast to settle over the Northeast by Saturday. The potential high sea level pressure (SLP) is close to the highest observed across the Northeast not only in December but in any calendar month based on data from WPC. The highest observed SLP in the Northeast ranges from 1052-1054 mb, which occurred on February 13, 1981. The highest observed SLP at Central Park was 1052.5 mb, which also occurred on February 13, 1981. The highest observed SLP in the Northeast for December ranges from around 1049-1053 mb (1051.8 mb at Central Park), which occurred on December 25, 1949. && .OKX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. NJ...None. MARINE...None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...JM/JP/NV NEAR TERM...JM SHORT TERM...JM LONG TERM...NV AVIATION...JP MARINE...JM/NV HYDROLOGY...JM/NV CLIMATE...