485 FXUS64 KMAF 121111 AFDMAF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX 511 AM CST Tue Dec 12 2017 .DISCUSSION... The latest Aviation Discussion is included below. && .AVIATION... VFR conditions will prevail areawide today and tonight. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 357 AM CST Tue Dec 12 2017/ A highly amplified pattern remains in place this morning per latest water vapor imagery, with a persistent ridge across the west coast, and trough across the east, and northwesterly flow aloft over Southeast New Mexico and West Texas. A weak cold front is currently moving through the area with little fanfare aside from a northerly wind shift and lower dewpoints filtering into the region. The front is currently located in the vicinity of the Pecos River, and will continue to slowly drift south and become more diffuse through the morning hours. Temperatures today will be about 5 to 10 degrees cooler than yesterday, with highs in the middle to upper 50s for most, and 60s through the Rio Grande Valley. Surface high pressure will build into the area in the wake of the front, paving the way for efficient radiational cooling overnight, with lows expected to be a bit cooler in the upper 20s and 30s for most of the area. Temperatures will quickly rebound above normal on Wednesday, ahead of the next front that will move through the region Wednesday night. However, cold advection behind the front is not strong, and thus, temperatures Thursday and Friday will remain in the 50s and 60s. The ridge to the west is progged to break down as an upper trough dives southeastward over the ridge on Friday. Ahead of this feature, lee troughing Saturday will result in breezy southwesterly winds and downslope warming, marking a return to above normal temperatures for Southeast New Mexico and West Texas. As the aforementioned upper trough deepens and translates toward the Mississippi Valley on Saturday night, the next of the series of cold fronts will move through the region, resulting in a cool down to near normal temperatures for Sunday. Thereafter, quasizonal to weak northwesterly flow aloft will allow temperatures to moderate into the 60s for most of the area early next week. Have maintained a dry forecast through the next 7 days, and while the ECMWF attempts to generate light QPF Thursday night into early Friday mainly along and south of I-10, it is the outlier. While all other solutions indicate continued dry conditions, confidence in any precipitation coming to fruition remains low. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Big Spring 58 34 68 34 / 0 0 0 0 Carlsbad 58 28 66 31 / 0 0 0 0 Dryden 62 38 69 42 / 0 0 0 0 Fort Stockton 58 36 70 37 / 0 0 0 0 Guadalupe Pass 51 37 59 35 / 0 0 0 0 Hobbs 57 29 67 30 / 0 0 0 0 Marfa 57 24 63 29 / 0 0 0 0 Midland Intl Airport 57 33 67 35 / 0 0 0 0 Odessa 57 33 67 35 / 0 0 0 0 Wink 58 29 69 33 / 0 0 0 0 && .MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...None. TX...None. && $$