Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Grand Forks, ND
Issued by NWS Grand Forks, ND
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444 FXUS63 KFGF 281949 AFDFGF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 249 PM CDT Fri Jun 28 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Isolated severe thunderstorms this evening with the main threats being 1" hail and 60 mph winds. - Another chance for severe storms Monday with a 15% outline from the SPC && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 249 PM CDT Fri Jun 28 2024 ...Synopsis... Current water vapor paints a well defined upper low centered in far northeast Montana atop a 100kt jet streak and 50kt 500mb flow over the Dakotas. Overnight convection has moved into northeast Minnesota with an inverted trough extending back west towards the upper low putting a deformation zone overhead between the two areas of low pressure. Strong 925mb northerly CAA to the north of the trough combined with westerly 700mb CAA to the south is resulting in a strengthening frontal circulation which will be the focus for the evening severe threat as the upper low drifts east with the upper flow. Moving through the period we see the depart of the upper low and short term ridging with quick transition to SW/W flow aloft as Central US ridging builds through next week though being centered more over the gulf coast than the plains lowers confidence in how much this will steer passing wave activity into our region vs further south. - Today`s Severe Threat Along the trough interesting shear profiles with N/NE surface winds along the boundary and W/SW flow above 850mb will lead to straight hodographs with RM vectors paralleling the boundary. The shear overall along the front should favor discrete convection with MLCAPE of 500-1000 J/KG and bulk shear of 40-50 knots supporting a greater than 1" hail threat. Also seeing support for weak funnels and maybe a tor or two if things align but this is conditional on enough sfc heating (should happen) and storm(s) existing in the vorticity rich environment along the boundary (much more uncertain). Traveling further south into southeast North Dakota weaker mid level winds will favor upscale/linear growth along a cold front aloft with steeper near sfc lapse rates and higher DCAPE leading to a predominant wind and hail threat as opposed to the tornado potential further north along the boundary extending from the near Minot towards the central Red River Valley. Expecting storms to form as early as 6pm in north central North Dakota and last until around midnight as they track ESE through the valley. Lastly a purely linear/cluster mode seems a low end probability with CAMs coming into stronger agreement on storm scale evolution. Breezy conditions as the upper low departs tomorrow with high pressure emerging from the Rockies leaving the forecast area in 20- 25 kt northerly flow before winds calm as the high moves overhead Saturday night. Ridging will be short lived however with SW flow aloft on the back side of the ridge with southerly 850mb flow developing across the northern plains in advance of a developing low with agreement from global ensembles as 75% of members show a >35kt 850mb jet Sunday night across the Valley. - Monday Severe Threat The uncertainties with Monday are aplenty though the scenarios for severe convection still exist. The main factor that will eventually decide where the threat is and its severity will be the location of the sfc low and attendant fronts. Currently ensembles show a low somewhere in the vicinity of Lake Manitoba and Winnipeg with a cold front extending south to the NE/SD border where the intersecting trailing cold front and eastward extending warm front may be located. Again this will very likely change though the current SPC outlook seems to key off the potential for isolated convection off the cold front in our area with more widespread convection with the southern low where much better thermodynamics and instability will exist. CSU ML does give a large 15% for much the high plains with a 60-65 CWASP values, 55-65 roughly correlates to an SPC marginal with a slight in the 65-70 range. Beyond Monday ensembles diverge with confidence decreasing. The main points will be the continued presence of southwest flow aloft and above average PWATs through the remainder of the week (average is around 1" now). Overall look to see rain chances to end the week with seasonal temps in the 70/80s for highs and 50s/low 60s for lows. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 1248 PM CDT Fri Jun 28 2024 As clouds clear this afternoon in eastern North Dakota ceilings briefly become solidly MVFR everywhere with a few sprinkles remaining until 20Z in BJI. Gusty NW winds at all sites until 03Z with gusts near DVL already topping 25kts at times. Could see a few thunderstorms form near DVL around 00Z tracking southeast towards GFK and FAR by 03Z end ending 06Z accordingly have added VCTS to the TAFS though further adjustment may be needed later on for timing. Post storm overnight cigs drop between 005 and 015 leading to widespread IFR to MVFR with LIFR still a 20% chance. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...None. MN...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...TT AVIATION...TT