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Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Grand Junction, CO
Issued by NWS Grand Junction, CO
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340 FXUS65 KGJT 020537 AFDGJT Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Junction CO 1137 PM MDT Mon Jul 1 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - The threat of scattered excessive rain producing thunderstorms has ended for the evening. Therefore, the Flood Watch has been allowed to expire. - Cooler and drier conditions return Tuesday with chances for terrain based showers and thunderstorms along the Continental Divide and our southern mountains. - Warmer and drier weather brings the return of critical fire weather conditions Wednesday and Thursday. && .UPDATE... Issued at 604 PM MDT Mon Jul 1 2024 Allowed the Flood Watch for flash flood potential to expire at 6 PM MDT. Early this evening, only a couple of stronger storms remained over the forecast area. Neither of these were slow moving making steady progress eastward at 25 to 30 mph. Some storms may redevelop overnight in response to a mid-level short wave passing over the area, but it`s unlikely that more than one or two will produce heavy rain. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY/... Issued at 258 PM MDT Mon Jul 1 2024 A sharp moisture gradient hangs southwest to northeast across the northwest tier of our CWA this afternoon. Dewpoints in Blanding, are 20 degrees greater than Moab to the north. This boundary has been the difference in fair weather cumulus sprouting in the remnant moisture and thunderstorms capable of heavy downpours and flash flooding. The better convection has set up closer to this sharp moisture gradient that is drifting east and southward through the evening. Our Flash Flood Watch is expected to drop off at 6pm MDT as the threat of flooding quickly diminishes this evening with the departure of PWAT values some 200 percent of normal. Storms will continue to fire on the terrain as this boundary works through the region this evening. Gusty winds, small hail, and heavy rainfall rates can be expected, mostly on the Colorado side of the state line. Precipitation chances will stick around during the overnight hours as we clear the abundant moisture from the terrain. Dry air begins to invade from the northwest tomorrow. However, enough moisture should remain to keep a shower or thunderstorm in the forecast along the Continental Divide and terrain south of the Colorado River tomorrow afternoon. These storms aren`t expected to pack as much moisture and will likely be gusty affairs with some small hail mixed in. Afternoon highs will remain milder tomorrow too, as we get a taste of lower humidity in the northwest flow. Clearing skies Tuesday night and lower dewpoints will allow overnight lows to come back down to seasonal normals. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/... Issued at 258 PM MDT Mon Jul 1 2024 On Wednesday high pressure begins to nose over the West Coast while a trough dives into the Northern Rockies and Northern Plains. This leaves us under northwest flow aloft that will be pumping in much drier air. This essentially pushes the monsoon moisture into the Desert Southwest and Mexico. On Thursday the trough intensifies into a closed low pressure over the central US. The models are suggesting that the far northeast corner of the CWA gets clipped with some moisture due to that system. Although they do not generate any QPF, so we keep conditions dry for most of the area. Meanwhile the ridge over the West Coast, which is where the heat will reside, expands a bit to the north. For our area high temperatures on Thursday will actually be near normal to around 5 degrees below normal. Over the weekend the ridge nudges eastward slightly, but overall remains anchored. Models are hinting at several shortwaves diving in from western Canada essentially keeping the ridge in place to our west. By early next week not much changes with the pattern. Perhaps the ridge nudges to the east some causing our temperatures to come up a few degrees. Given the general position of the ridge dry northwest flow persists and therefore we are expecting mostly quiet conditions. && .AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1137 PM MDT Mon Jul 1 2024 Another busy overnight period as the last of the moisture and instability gets replaced by drier air for Tuesday. Gusty winds and MVFR producing showers could impact several of the southern and eastern TAF sites through sunrise. The drier air spreads in for tomorrow and storm coverage will be much more isolated and mainly limited to the higher terrain. So VFR should hold over the next 24 hours but will also be watching for some low clouds to form in the wake of heavy rainfall in some of the higher valleys. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...None. UT...None. && $$ UPDATE...NL SHORT TERM...LTB LONG TERM...KJS AVIATION...TGJT