


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
Issued by NWS Caribou, ME
711 FXUS61 KCAR 211319 AFDCAR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Caribou ME 919 AM EDT Thu Aug 21 2025 .SYNOPSIS... High pressure will remain across the area today through Friday, then slides offshore Friday night as Hurricane Erin passes well south and then east of the Gulf of Maine. A warm front will lift north of the area Saturday. A cold front then slowly approaches from the west through Sunday night, then begins to cross Maine on Monday. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/... 9:15 AM Update...Based on satellite data, decided to increase cloud cover today across the region. Greatest increase from the Central Highlands northward. Also made minor tweaks to temperatures and winds to account for latest trends. Previous Discussion... High pressure over the area today will bring a tranquil day with seasonable highs in the mid to upper 70s. A bit of moisture streaming southeast through the southern edge of an upper trough to our northeast will bring patchy clouds to northern areas while Downeast remains sunny. Meanwhile, seas pushing north from Hurricane Erin will gradually build today from around 4 to 5 ft this morning up to 5 to 6 ft along our coast by late today. High pressure remaining over the area tonight will bring a mostly clear and tranquil night with cool overnight lows once again in the upper 40s to near 50 across the region. The northern fringe of Hurricane Erin will bring a light northeasterly breeze along the coast. Seas along the coast will build significantly overnight from 5 to 6 ft in the evening to around 9 to 10 ft by Friday morning. Friday will again be mostly sunny and seasonably warm as high pressure remains across the area. Northern areas will be tranquil while Downeast has a light northeasterly breeze north of Erin. Long period 17 second seas from the hurricane will build up to 10 to 12 ft along our shore on Friday. Refer to the latest products from the National Hurricane Center for the latest information on Hurricane Erin. && .SHORT TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... Dangerous high surf due to long period swells from Hurricane Erin will continue into Saturday. How long into Saturday will be determined by exactly how fast Erin exits to the ENE. So no change to the end time of the High Surf Advisory at this time. In addition to the pounding surf producing large waves, there is the potential for minor beach erosion, and possibly some minor coastal flooding with overwash from the waves during the high tide Friday evening. Winds should rapidly diminish Friday evening with Erin passing well S of Nova Scotia and a relaxed pressure gradient over the region, so the tide might be able to push in further than during the high tide during the day on Friday. Once confidence increases in the timing of Erins extra- tropical transition and resulting expansion of its wind field, then there should be a better an idea of if any minor coastal flooding will occur. Northern stream ridging builds over the area Friday night, then its axis slides to the east on Saturday, allowing a surface to 850 mb warm front to lift through the region from SW to NE. Friday night should be dry, then on Saturday there is a slight chance of showers, mainly across northern Aroostook where the best forcing is. Lows Friday night should be from a few to around 5 degrees above normal, with highs on Saturday around 5 degrees above normal across the North and near normal elsewhere. The region is under southwest flow aloft Saturday night, with a weak shortwave passing to the north. As a result, do have slight chance pops, mainly across N Aroostook, closest to the best forcing. Lows Saturday night should be around 5 degrees above normal. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... The region remains under southwest flow aloft Sunday through Monday, as a cutoff low slowly tracks from southwest to southeast of James Bay. The result will be a series of shortwaves rotating around the base of low, and bringing a threat of showers, with possibly some embedded thunder during peak heating in the afternoon. Noting the highly amplified pattern, leaned towards slower ECMWF/CMC for onset timing, something the GFS trended towards from its 18z to its 00z run. As a result, significantly undercut NBM pops on Sunday, then gradually worked towards them by Monday. Limit pops on Sunday to slight chance over far NW portions of the CWA, then likely pops mainly across the North Sunday night, then likely to categorical pops Monday for all but most of Downeast Maine, where pops are in the chance range (due to the slow progression of the system and Downeast Maine being farthest from the best dynamics). Northern stream trough builds in Monday night-Tuesday with a couple of shortwave troughs moving though as it does so. Expect the bulk of the precipitation Monday night, with some reduction in coverage/intensity on Tuesday as the low levels begin to dry So take pops from likely on Monday night down to chance on Tuesday. Note there is the potential for around an inch of precipitation basin average over the North Woods from late Sunday into Tuesday, however given the convective nature of the precipitation, and the potential for training, locally higher amounts are possible, especially in areas that experience training, there is the potential for some hydrologic issues there. However, at this time the confidence in this is not high enough to reflect in the HWO. Full latitude troughing over the eastern US is reinforced by a couple of northern stream shortwave troughs pushing through Tuesday night and Wednesday. The best forcing should be mainly across the north so highest pops are there both periods for some showers. Temperatures should be within a few degrees of either side of normal Sunday night-Monday night, then below normal Tuesday- Wednesday. && .AVIATION /13Z THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... NEAR TERM: Mainly VFR conditions are expected today, tonight, and Friday. Brief BCFG possible at KBGR and KBHB through 12-13z. Localized BCFG possible late tonight, but confidence is too low to include in 12z TAFs. Winds will be light and variable today then light and variable north and light NE south tonight. SHORT TERM: Friday night...VFR. Saturday...VFR, with the exception of possibly a brief period of MVFR at northern terminals in any passing shower. Saturday night-Sunday...VFR, with possibly exception of a brief period of MVFR in any showers along the western boarder with Quebec. LLWS possible Saturday night at southern terminals. S-SW winds G15-25KT possible Sunday. Sunday night-Monday...MVFR or lower probable at northern terminals and possible at southern terminals. LLWS possible Sunday night. S-SE winds G15-20KT possible Monday. && .MARINE... NEAR TERM: Long period swell of around 17 second intervals pushing north from Hurricane Erin will build to 5 to 6 ft today, 9 to 10 ft tonight, then 10 to 12 ft on Friday. Winds will be light and variable today then light NE tonight and Friday. SHORT TERM: Long period swells will keep seas at SCA levels through Saturday on all waters (though there is some doubt about exactly how long on Saturday in the intra-coastal waters), and possibly into Sunday on the coastal ocean waters. So no change to the existing SCA into Saturday afternoon on all waters for now. All waters should see sub-SCA conditions Sunday night and Monday. && .CAR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...High Surf Advisory from 6 PM this evening to 2 PM EDT Saturday for MEZ029-030. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 2 PM EDT Saturday for ANZ050>052. && $$ Near Term...Bloomer/Clark Short Term...Maloit Long Term...Maloit Aviation...Bloomer/Clark/Maloit Marine...Bloomer/Clark/Maloit