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Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Medford, OR
Issued by NWS Medford, OR
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293 FXUS66 KMFR 132156 AFDMFR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Medford OR 256 PM PDT Sat Jul 13 2024 .DISCUSSION...Satellite is creating a beautiful picture with the stratus banking the coast. Some stratus was reaching into the Coquille Basin this morning, but that has been burning off, albeit stubbornly. Inland, cumulus is starting to creep up into Modoc, Lake and Siskiyou counties. The Shelly Fire is the main smoke producer in the area today, with most of the smoke staying in Siskiyou County with haze across more areas in Southern Oregon and Modoc County. Highs this afternoon will be in the 90s or low 100s widespread besides the coast. It will also be the last day in the forecast for record watching. The record high for Alturas is 102 from 2014 with a forecast of 101 and Mount Shasta has a record of 99 from 2021 with a forecast of 103. This afternoon is also the last afternoon where a Heat Advisory will be in effect for Jackson and Josephine counties with an Excessive Heat Warning for most of Siskiyou County. Overall, temperatures will be near 5-10 degrees above normal the next few days, which will mean temperatures will still range from 50s and 60s in the mornings to 90s/low 100s in the afternoons inland. The trend of warmer than normal conditions will continue through the rest of the week. Please still take precautions when having to be out in the heat this next week. The main smoke concerns lie in Siskiyou County with the Shelly Fire while haze is present in other parts of Southern ORegon and Northern California. Into tomorrow morning the smoke will come across southerly flow which will move lower concentrations to Jackson, Klamath and Lake counties. The cumulus that is building is indicating that there is more moisture in the air. This afternoon there is a 15-20% chance for lightning from central Siskiyou County east into Modoc County and in portions of southern Klamath and Lake counties. A 5-15% chance for lightning continues tonight that includes Callahan, Lakeview and Alturas. Tomorrow is looking more favorable for lightning with a 15- 30% chance with a line from western Siskiyou County and up into eastern Jackson County and Crescent that continues eastward. Dry conditions are favored to return Wednesday. From Thursday through the weekend, the probability for reaching 100 degrees in Medford lowers to 25-45% while highs and lows are forecast to be 5- 10 degrees above normal. -Hermansen && .AVIATION...13/18Z TAFS...The main features of note are coastal stratus, thunderstorms, and smoke from the Shelly Fire. Marine stratus has mostly eroded from the immediate coast, with patches of LIFR/IFR lingering for another few hours near Capes and in southern Curry County near Brookings. North winds near the coast increase again this afternoon into the evening, with gusts of 25- 30kt. IFR and LIFR will return again to the coast by early this evening and will be a little slower to erode during Sunday morning. Inland, VFR conditions will continue through the TAF period, except for MVFR visibility between 4-5 miles in the vicinity of the Shelly Fire over to Montague. Visibility could briefly lower to 5 miles near the Salt Creek Fire in eastern Jackson County, but the prevailing visibility should remain 6 miles or greater. Thunderstorm activity looks to be isolated today then reach a peak with scattered coverage on Sunday evening. This afternoon and especially this evening will be the first of several days in a row with at least isolated thunderstorms in a portion of the area. Today`s activity is expected in Siskiyou, Modoc, southeastern Klamath and southern Lake counties. This includes, Montague, Mt. Shasta, Alturas, and Lakeview. Isolated t-storms could produce lightning and gusty outflows. -CC/DW && .MARINE...Updated 230 PM Saturday, July 13, 2024...Winds and seas will be at a peak into this evening, but a thermal trough will continue to bring moderate to strong north winds into Monday evening. This includes gales along with very steep, hazardous seas beyond 5 nm south of Port Orford through Sunday evening. Very steep wind driven seas up to 13 feet will persist in roughly the same area. Winds and seas will lower some Sunday night into Monday evening, but expect continued gusty north winds and steep seas across much of the waters. Then winds and seas are expected to gradually diminish Tuesday through Thursday. -DW && .FIRE WEATHER......RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM THIS EVENING FOR STRONG GUSTY WIND AND LOW RH FOR NORTHERN FIRE WEATHER ZONES 624 AND 625... ...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR LIGHTNING ON DRY FUELS FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONES 284...285..624 AND 625... ...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 11 PM PDT SUNDAY FOR LIGHTNING ON DRY FUELS FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONES 280...281...282... AND 621... ...FIRE WEATHER WATCH IN EFFECT FROM SUNDAY EVENING THROUGH MONDAY EVENING FOR LIGHTNING ON DRY FUELS FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONES 280...281...282...284...285...624 AND 625... Hot, breezy, low humidities, and unstable afternoon conditions will persist through this weekend. The focus of today`s efforts was to fine tune the thunderstorm forecast for this weekend and to glean any details for the Monday/Tuesday timeframe as well. Strong high pressure will linger over the Great Basin region into next week and a weak low pressure will move northward just offshore of the California coast. This is a pretty classic thunderstorm pattern for this area as the flow turns more southerly and moist unstable air moves into the region. For today, we expect isolated thunderstorms to be focused over our southeastern zones (284, 285, southern 624 and 625) and this is covered by the current Red Flag Warning (RFW). Storms are already moving into Modoc County this afternoon, so the forecast remains on track for today. Meanwhile, the RFW for FWZs 624 and 625 is actually a combination of critical concerns. Gusty southwest winds have shifted northward today and humidities will remain very low across the northern portions of those zones. So north of a line from roughly Chiloquin to Paisley, we expect critical fire weather conditions due to gusty winds and low RH, while south of there the concern is due to lightning on dry fuels. Though confidence is higher for isolated coverage vs scattered, any lightning in the area right now should be highly efficient fire starters thanks to the recent prolonged stretch of very hot and very dry conditions. Additionally, any storms that develop today into tonight will be high based and have very little to no precipitation with them. As we head into tonight and Sunday, the potential for thunderstorms shifts westward. It`s not out of the question we see some isolated, elevated convection continue Saturday night into Sunday morning, but Sunday afternoon and evening looks like the day for the most coverage of storms as the mid-level moisture field shifts westward. Have upgraded the Fire Weather Watch for FWZ 624, 625, 284, 285, 280 to a Red Flag Warning and have also added FWZs 281, 282 and 621 to the warning. Additionally, to cover the potential for isolated dry thunderstorms for the overnight period, have basically just stretched out the current Red Flag Warning to continue overnight tonight through late Sunday evening. The exception being FWZs 280/281/282/621 where that Red Flag starts at 2 am tonight and carries through late Sunday evening. Storms should trend wetter on Sunday, but will still be a mix of dry and wet storms, with lightning strikes outside of precipitation cores a real possibility and cause for concern. The focus of today`s efforts has largely been on the weekend setup, but it looks like we`ll maintain at least isolated thunderstorm chances Monday into Tuesday. There is some uncertainty due to model differences regarding where these chances are focused, which could include west of the Cascades or even nocturnal thunderstorms at some point. We`ve gone ahead and issued a Fire Weather Watch for late Sunday night through Monday evening where confidence is highest for the continued thunderstorm threat, and this includes FWZs 280/281/282/284/285/624/625. We`ll have to monitor model trends closely as each day passes, but we`ll be in a thunderstorm pattern through Tuesday, and subtle shifts in model trends could lead to big changes in the forecast. /BR-y && .MFR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OR...Red Flag Warning from 2 AM to 11 PM PDT Sunday for ORZ621. Heat Advisory until 9 PM PDT this evening for ORZ024-026- 029>031. Red Flag Warning until 8 PM PDT this evening for ORZ624-625. Fire Weather Watch from Sunday evening through Monday evening for ORZ624-625. CA...Excessive Heat Warning until 9 PM PDT this evening for CAZ080>082. Red Flag Warning from 2 AM to 11 PM PDT Sunday for CAZ280>282. Fire Weather Watch from Sunday evening through Monday evening for CAZ280>282. Heat Advisory until 9 PM PDT this evening for CAZ083>085. Red Flag Warning until 11 PM PDT Sunday for CAZ284-285. Fire Weather Watch from Sunday evening through Monday evening for CAZ284-285. PACIFIC COASTAL WATERS...Small Craft Advisory until 8 PM PDT Monday for PZZ356-370-376. Small Craft Advisory until 8 PM PDT Sunday for PZZ350. Gale Warning until 8 PM PDT Sunday for PZZ356-376. && $$