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Displaying AFOS PIL: AFDIWX Received: 2014-02-26 09:15 UTC
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454 FXUS63 KIWX 260915 AFDIWX AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 415 AM EST WED FEB 26 2014 .SYNOPSIS... ISSUED AT 415 AM EST WED FEB 26 2014 LAKE EFFECT SNOW WILL GRADUALLY WEAKEN AND SHIFT NORTH LATER THIS MORNING AS WINDS BACK TO A MORE SOUTHWESTERLY DIRECTION. ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL ARRIVE TONIGHT THOUGH...WITH MORE LAKE EFFECT SNOW EXPECTED THROUGH THURSDAY. ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE LIGHT BUT PATCHY BLOWING SNOW MAY IMPACT THE THURSDAY MORNING COMMUTE ACROSS SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN AND EXTREME NORTHERN INDIANA. VERY COLD CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST THROUGH FRIDAY. && .SHORT TERM...(TODAY AND TONIGHT) ISSUED AT 415 AM EST WED FEB 26 2014 LAKE EFFECT SNOW AND VERY COLD TEMPERATURES REMAIN THE FOCUS OF THE SHORT TERM PERIOD AS UNRELENTING WINTER CONTINUES. LATEST WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS SHORTWAVE TROUGH CURRENTLY SWINGING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN GREAT LAKES. ASSOCIATED UPTICK IN QG ASCENT HAS ALLOWED INVERSION HEIGHTS TO CLIMB WHILE PERSISTENT CAA FORCES A MORE ROBUST LAKE INDUCED INSTABILITY PROFILE. PASSING VORT MAX HAS ALSO FORCED LOW LEVEL WINDS TO VEER A BIT AND LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS HAVE BEEN EXPANDING OVER OUR CWA AS A RESULT. WE ARE LIKELY NEAR THE PEAK OF THIS ROUND OF LAKE EFFECT SNOWFALL THOUGH. SHORTWAVE WILL EXIT BY LATER THIS MORNING WITH INCREASING SUBSIDENCE AND BACKING WINDS BRINGING AN END TO SNOWFALL EVERYWHERE BY MIDDAY. AFTERNOON TEMPS WILL REMAIN VERY COLD. 925MB TEMPS HOVER AROUND -18C FOR MUCH OF THE DAY...SUGGESTING HIGHS ONLY IN THE MID TO UPPER SINGLE DIGITS. THIS IS GENERALLY SUPPORTED BY NEWEST MAV/MET GUIDANCE BUT NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO GO QUITE THAT COLD. INCREASING SOLAR INSOLATION THIS TIME OF YEAR...AND LOWER ALBEDO NOTED BY PREVIOUS FORECASTER...WILL PROBABLY HAVE SOME INFLUENCE AND HAVE STUCK PRETTY CLOSE TO INHERITED HIGHS IN THE LOWER TEENS. YET ANOTHER CLIPPER SYSTEM AND YET ANOTHER SHOT OF COLDER AIR/LIGHT SNOWFALL WILL ARRIVE BY LATER TONIGHT. THIS SHORTWAVE IS ACTUALLY THE MOST IMPRESSIVE ONE YET JUDGING BY WATER VAPOR AND MODEL PV FIELDS...BEING DRIVEN BY 130+ KT MID/UPPER LEVEL JET MAX. DYNAMICS ALOFT ARE EXCELLENT BUT DRY/STABLE AMBIENT AIRMASS WILL MUTE THE LOW LEVEL RESPONSE A BIT. FURTHERMORE...THE BEST PV ADVECTION AND LEFT EXIT REGION DYNAMICS PASS JUST TO OUR NORTH...AFFECTING MAINLY MICHIGAN. DECENT CYCLOGENESIS IS EXPECTED BUT IT WILL BE OVER THE NORTHERN GREAT LAKES. PRECIP CHANCES FOR MOST OF OUR COUNTIES WILL DEPEND ON LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE/CYCLONIC FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH PASSING COLD FRONT RIGHT AROUND 12Z. THIS DOES NOT BODE WELL FOR ANYTHING MORE THAN A FEW FLURRIES ALONG AND SOUTH OF US-30 GIVEN MIXING RATIOS CLOCKING IN AT A PALTRY 1 G/KG. BETTER CHANCES FOR ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL EXPECTED IN OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES GIVEN THETA-E CONTRIBUTION OF LAKE MICHIGAN ALONG WITH CLOSER PROXIMITY TO LARGE SCALE FORCING BUT AMOUNTS PRIOR TO 12Z WILL STILL BE LIMITED TO A FEW TENTHS. WILL BE A STRONG GRADIENT WIND THOUGH AND EXPECTED SMALL FLAKES MAY CAUSE SOME AREAS TO EXPERIENCE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED VISIBILITIES DURING THE MORNING COMMUTE DESPITE MARGINAL ACCUMULATIONS. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MAY EVENTUALLY BE NEEDED FOR SOME OF OUR NORTH/NORTHWEST COUNTIES BUT AFTER COORDINATION WITH LONG TERM FORECASTER DECIDED TO HOLD OFF ON ISSUANCE GIVEN MAIN IMPACTS STILL OVER 24 HOURS AWAY. OVERNIGHT LOWS ARE A BIT TRICKY WITH COLDEST TEMPS LIKELY OCCURRING RIGHT AROUND OR JUST AFTER 12Z IN THE WAKE OF PASSING COLD FRONT. OVERNIGHT TEMPS WILL PROBABLY REMAIN STEADY OR EVEN RISE A BIT GIVEN STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS AND MAY EVEN SEE CALENDAR DAY HIGHS FOR THE 26/27 OCCUR DURING THE TONIGHT PERIOD. MADE A FEW SLIGHT ADJUSTMENTS TO MIN TEMPS BASED ON LATEST MODEL TIMING OF COLD AIR SURGE BUT OVERALL CHANGES MINIMAL. AFTER MODERATING THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WIND CHILL VALUES WILL RETURN TO ADVISORY CRITERIA OF -15 TO -20 BY THURSDAY MORNING AND ANOTHER WIND CHILL ADVISORY WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED. && .LONG TERM...(THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY) ISSUED AT 415 AM EST WED FEB 26 2014 DEEP UPR LOW OVER ONTARIO WILL BEGIN THE LONG TERM PERIOD WITH STRONG NW FLOW FROM THE GRTLKS TO THE ARCTIC ENSURING AN EXTREMELY COLD AIRMASS WILL BE OVERSPREADING THE CWA THU. AT THE SFC A RATHER STRONG LOW OVER SE ONTARIO THU MORNING WITH A TRAILING COLD FRONT ACROSS THE OH VALLEY AND ARCTIC HIGH OVER THE NRN PLAINS WILL PROVIDE CAA THROUGH THE DAY RESULTING IN ONLY SLIGHT TEMPERATURE RISES FROM MORNING LOWS WITH BRISK NW WINDS CAUSING ADVISORY LEVEL WIND CHILLS. LAKE INDUCED INSTABILITY FCST BY NAM BUFR SOUNDINGS TO BE AROUND 700J/KG THU WITH INVERSION AROUND 7500FT IN THE MORNING LOWERING TO AROUND 5KFT BY EVE. 1000-850MB MOISTURE ALSO FCST TO BE >80% THOUGH SUSPECT THIS IS TOO MOIST GIVEN ORIGINS OF AIRMASS IN THE ARCTIC. STRONG NW WIND SHOULD ALLOW LAKE EFFECT BANDS TO PENETRATE WELL INLAND. CONTD WITH SNOW SHOWERS MENTIONED ACROSS ALL BUT FAR SRN PORTION OF CWA AND BUMPED UP POPS TO CATEGORICAL ACROSS SWRN LWR MI. ACCUMS ONLY FCST AROUND AN INCH AS DGZ IN SFC-2KFT RANGE SHOULD KEEP FLAKES FINE AND ACCUMULATIONS COMPACT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE QUICKLY ACROSS THE CWA THU NGT CAUSING DIMINISH WINDS AND CLEARING SKIES. WITH SNOW COVER ACROSS THE CWA AT LEAST PERSISTING... AND IN SOME CASES INCREASING OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS... EXPECT STRONG RADIATIONAL COOLING OVERNIGHT LEADING TO RECORD LOWS IN THE -5F TO -15F RANGE. ALTHOUGH WINDS WILL BE LIGHT AND PRBLY CALM AT TIMES OVERNIGHT... GRADIENT SHOULD PICK UP AROUND DAWN RESULTING IN WIND CHILL ADVISORY CONDITIONS ONCE AGAIN BY FRIDAY MORNING. FOR THE EXTENDED FCST... MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT THAT FLOW ACROSS THE CONUS WILL BECOME MORE ZONAL LATE IN THE WEEK AS THE STRONG SHRTWV ROTATING AROUND HUDSON BAY LOW LIFTS NE FROM THE GRTLKS TO SERN CANADA. A WK SHRTWV MOVG EAST IN THE ZONAL FLOW FROM THE PACIFIC IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS OUR AREA FRIDAY NIGHT PSBLY CAUSING SOME LIGHT SNOW. A MORE SGFNT SNOW EVENT PSBL SAT NGT-SUNDAY AS A STRONGER SHRTWV MOVES EAST INTO THE SRN PLAINS TAPPING GULF MOISTURE AND INDUCING STRONG UPR LEVEL JET ACROSS THE GRTLKS WITH ATTENDANT RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION LIFT INTO THE OHIO VALLEY. THUS, APPEARS TO BE POTENTIAL FOR SGFNT SNOW ACCUMS ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE SERN PORTION OF OUR CWA IN THIS TIMEFRAME... THOUGH STILL SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCES IN MODEL FCSTS REMAIN ON WHERE BAND OF HEAVIEST PRECIP ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL OCCUR. IN THE WAKE OF THE WEEKEND SHRTWV... HIGH PRESSURE SHOULD MOVE INTO THE AREA PROVIDING GENERALLY DRY WX WITH JUST A SLIGHT CHC OF SNOW SHOWERS AND TEMPS CONTG WELL BLO NORMAL. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z WEDNESDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 1235 AM EST WED FEB 26 2014 LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS STEADILY INCREASING AS ROBUST MIDLEVEL VORT MAX ENTERS THE GREAT LAKES REGION AND LOW LEVEL WINDS VEER TO A MORE NORTHWESTERLY DIRECTION. COMBINATION OF SYNOPTIC LIFT AND INCREASINGLY COLD AIR FILTERING OVER THE LAKE WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT MODERATE SNOW BANDS THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE LIMITED BY DRY AIR ENTRAINMENT BUT BRIEF PERIODS OF IFR/FUEL ALTERNATE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE AT KSBN WITH HIGHER END MVFR EXPECTED AT KFWA. LAKE EFFECT SNOW WILL CLEAR BY LATER THIS MORNING AS WINDS BACK TO THE SOUTHWEST BUT FORECAST SOUNDINGS SUGGEST LOW END VFR/HIGH END MVFR STRATUS DECK REMAINING OVER THE REGION FOR MUCH OF THE DAY. && .IWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IN...WIND CHILL ADVISORY UNTIL NOON EST /11 AM CST/ TODAY FOR INZ003>005-008-012>018-020-022>027-032>034. MI...NONE. OH...NONE. LM...NONE. && $$ SYNOPSIS...AGD SHORT TERM...AGD LONG TERM...JT AVIATION...AGD VISIT US AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/IWX (ALL LOWER CASE) FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK...TWITTER...AND YOUTUBE AT: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/US.NATIONALWEATHERSERVICE.NORTHERNIN.GOV WWW.TWITTER.COM/NWSIWX WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/NWSNORTHERNINDIANA