Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Northern Indiana

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000
FXUS63 KIWX 251139
AFDIWX

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
639 AM EST WED NOV 25 2009

.AVIATION /12Z TAFS/...

TOUGH FLYING CONDITIONS FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS AS ONE LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM LIFTS NORTHEAST INTO MICHIGAN TODAY ONLY TO BE REPLACED BY
ANOTHER SYSTEM NOW DROPPING THROUGH THE UPPER MIDWEST WHICH WILL
ARRIVE THIS EVENING. SHRAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FIRST LOW WILL
IMPACT BOTH TERMINALS THIS MORNING. EXPECT THESE SHRAS TO BE
ACCOMPANIED BY DETERIORATION TO IFR /CIGS/ AS IS OCCURRING ATTM AT
SBN. BY AFTERNOON...EXPECT LESS IFR POTENTIAL AS UPPER LOW BEGINS
TO PULL AWAY...BUT CAN/T RULE OUT SOME LINGERING IFR CIGS ESP AT
SBN THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON.

TONIGHT...AS THE SECOND AREA OF LOW PRESSURE APPROACHES FROM THE
WEST...ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS IS POSSIBLE...PARTICULARLY AT SBN.
EXPECT GENERALLY MVFR CONDITIONS TO PERSIST FOR THE EVENING AND
OVERNIGHT...BUT WILL HAVE TO WATCH FOR POTENTIAL IFR CIGS AT SBN
WITH THE SHRAS IN THE EVENING.

SOUTHWEST WINDS 12G20KTS ARE EXPECTED TODAY BEFORE DIMINISHING TO
AROUND 10KTS FOR THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT...REMAINING OUT OF THE
SOUTHWEST.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 454 AM EST WED NOV 25 2009/

UPDATE...

HAVE UPDATED PRODUCTS EARLY THIS MORNING AS RADAR RETURNS HAVE
BLOSSOMED NEAR THE CORE OF THE UPPER LOW WITH IR SHOWING COOLING
CLOUD TOPS AS THIS FEATURE NEARS THE SOUTHERN SHORE OF LAKE
MICHIGAN.

CAN/T LET LIKELY POPS RIDE GIVEN THESE TRENDS AND HAVE THEREFORE
BUMPED WESTERN AREAS TO CAT...WHILE ALSO EXPANDING THE AREA OF
LIKELIES EAST.

NO OTHER CHANGES ATTM.

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 349 AM EST WED NOV 25 2009/

SHORT TERM /TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/...

A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES WILL IMPACT OUR WEATHER THROUGH THE SHORT
TERM PERIOD WITH GRADUALLY DECREASING TEMPERATURES...AND GRADUALLY
INCREASING CHANCES FOR SOME SNOWFLAKES TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE.

WATER VAPOR AND UPPER AIR ANALYSIS SHOWS FIRST WAVE CENTERED OVER
NORTHERN ILLINOIS BEGINNING TO LIFT NORTH AND EAST WITH TIGHTER
HEIGHT GRADIENT ON ITS EASTERN FLANK.  BAND OF RAINFALL
AHEAD OF SURFACE COLD FRONT HAS CLEARED MY EASTERN ZONES AS OF THIS
WRITING.  WE NOW AWAIT THE ARRIVAL OF THE DEEPER MOISTURE ASSOCIATED
WITH THE VERTICALLY STACKED LOW.  REGIONAL RADARS SHOWING A PRETTY
IMPRESSIVE SPIRAL OF MOISTURE INTO THIS LOW...BUT THE RETURNS ARE
RELATIVELY LIGHT.  WITH THE TRAJECTORY OF THE LOW...EXPECT THIS SHRA
ACTIVITY TO BRUSH MY NORTHWESTERN ZONES...BUT MOSTLY MISS THE
SOUTHEASTERN HALF OF THE CWA.  LLEVEL MOISTURE WILL REMAIN
ENTRENCHED EVEN IN THE SOUTHEASTERN AREAS...HOWEVER...SO ANOTHER
DREARY DAY LOOKS TO BE IN STORE WITH PLENTY OF CLOUDS.  BY
AFTERNOON...THE CENTER OF THE UPPER LOW WILL HAVE PULLED INTO
MICHIGAN AND EXPECT A DECREASE IN SHRA ACTIVITY WITH MANY LOCATIONS
MAKING IT THROUGH THE AFTERNOON DRY.  WITH NO SUN...AND DECENT COLD
ADVECTION BEHIND THE DEPARTING LOW/COLD FRONT...DON/T EXPECT TEMPS
TO MOVE MUCH AT ALL...AND HAVE INCLUDED THIS STEADY TEMP WORDING IN
THE ZONES TODAY.  SLIGHTLY UNDERCUT GUIDANCE...FOLLOWING CLOSER TO
THE 3 HOURLY MOS TEMPS.

NO SOONER WILL THE FIRST WAVE BE OUT OF THE AREA THAN THE NEXT WAVE
NOW DIVING SOUTHEAST OVER THE EASTERN DAKOTAS WILL ARRIVE.  LIKE THE
GFS/S DEEPER AND SLOWER DEPICTION OF THIS FEATURE GIVEN ALL OF THE
UPSTREAM JET ENERGY WHICH SHOULD HELP DIG IT FURTHER SOUTH.  EVEN
WITH THIS SLIGHTLY SLOWER EASTWARD PROGRESSION...EXPECT OUR AREA TO
RESIDE ON THE EASTERN FLANK OF THE UPPER LOW WITH DIFFLUENT FLOW
ALOFT AND A POTENT AREA OF QVECTOR CONVERGENCE SPREADING OVERHEAD
THIS EVENING.  BIGGEST QUESTION WILL BE MOISTURE AND THEREFORE HAVE
CAUTIOUSLY RAISED POPS TO LIKELY ONLY OVER MY NORTHWESTERN ZONES
/AND ONLY THROUGH 6Z/ WHERE MOISTURE LOOKS TO BE THE DEEPEST.  AFTER
6Z...EXPECT DEEPEST MOISTURE TO LIFT NORTH FOR A TIME AS A
DEFORMATION ZONE DEVELOPS ALONG THE NORTHWESTERN FLANK OF THE
NEARING UPPER LOW.  SO WILL MAINTAIN NO HIGHER THAN CHC POPS FOR
THIS PERIOD.  UPPED PREVIOUS LOWS SLIGHTLY...PRETTY CLOSE TO THE MAV
VALUES AS COLD ADVECTION OVERNIGHT WILL BE MODEST AND WITH CLOUD
COVER AND PRECIP...EXPECT TEMPS TO BE SLOW TO FALL.

INTERESTING DAY ON THANKSGIVING AS UPPER LOW SHIFTS EAST AND ALLOWS
MORE MEANINGFUL COLD ADVECTION TO DEVELOP.  AT THE SAME TIME...BAND
OF DEFORMATION PRECIP NORTHWEST OF THE UPPER FEATURE LOOKS TO SAG
SOUTH AND EAST.  AS THIS DEFORMATION PRECIP ARRIVES...THE FLOW WILL
BECOME NORTHWEST AND BEGIN TO PROVIDE LAKE ENHANCEMENT TO ANY
ONGOING PRECIP.  SO WHILE I EXPECT THE DEFORMATION BAND TO WEAKEN BY
AFTERNOON...LAKE ENHANCED PRECIP WILL LIKELY TAKE ITS PLACE.
THEREFORE...WILL UP POPS TO LIKELY IN THE WEST...TAPERING TO CHC IN
THE EAST. BOUNDARY LAYER TEMPERATURES LOOK MARGINAL FOR A CHANGEOVER
TO SNOW DURING THE DAY AND EXPECT THAT THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO WILL
BE FOR SOME WET FLAKES TO MIX IN FROM TIME TO TIME...WITH ANY
HEAVIER PRECIP POTENTIALLY BECOMING MORE SNOW.  DON/T SEE ANY
DAYTIME ACCUMS WITH THIS SCENARIO.  TEMPS WILL NOT GO FAR GIVEN THE
PRECIP/CLOUDS AND LIKE THE TEMPS WE HAD GOING SO ONLY MADE SOME
MINOR TWEAKS HERE...STILL A FEW DEGREES BELOW GUIDANCE.

TEMPS ALOFT CONTINUE TO COOL THURSDAY NIGHT AND GIVEN THE TIME OF
DAY...THIS MAY BE OUR BEST SHOT AT SOME ACCUMULATING SNOWS.  LLEVEL
TEMPS STILL WON/T BE ALL THAT COLD...SO WILL NOT GO TO SN
EXCLUSIVELY IN THE WEATHER GRIDS.  HAVE MAINTAINED LIKELY POPS
DOWNWIND OF LAKE MICHIGAN TO ABOUT ELKHART GIVEN MOIST 320 FLOW WITH
OTHERWISE CYCLONIC LLEVEL FLOW AND DELTA T/S AROUND 15C WHICH YIELD
EQUILIBRIUM LEVELS 7-8KFT.  HAVE PAINTED A FEW TENTHS OF AN INCH OF
SNOW IN THE GRIDS AT THIS POINT...BUT EXPECT THIS TO BE ON GRASSY
SURFACES GIVEN THE MARGINAL BL TEMPS.  STILL...IT SHOULD LOOK A
LITTLE MORE WINTER-LIKE BY FRIDAY MORNING.  TEMPS LOOK TO FALL TO
RIGHT AROUND THE FREEZING MARK...EXCEPT PERHAPS A LITTLE HIGHER
ALONG THE LAKE MICHIGAN SHORELINE.

LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...

COMBINATION OF 850 RIDGE AXIS SHIFTING ACROSS THE AREA...DECREASING
MSTR AND DELTA T`S WILL ALL SPELL THE DEMISE FOR ANY LINGERING
RAIN/SNOW SHOWER ACTIVITY DURING THE MORNING. 30 POPS WORK WELL FOR
THIS TIME FRAME. DESPITE WAA STARTING IN LOW LEVELS...CLOUD COVER
WILL LIKELY LEAD TO ONLY MINIMAL DIURNAL SWING AND RESULTANT HIGHS
IN THE UPPER 30S TO AROUND 40.

NEXT CHALLENGE WILL BE AMOUNT OF SUNSHINE AND WARMING IN RESPONSE TO
NEXT LONG WAVE TROUGH SET TO DEVELOP TO THE WEST INTO THE FIRST PART
OF NEXT WEEK. MODELS VARY ON AMOUNT OF WARMING BUT AT LEAST POINT
TOWARDS +3 TO +5 C SAT EVENING WITH ECMWF SHOWING +7 TO +9 C.
HOWEVER...AMOUNT OF LINGERING LL MSTR WILL BE IN QUESTION WITH RH
PROFILES SUGGESTING MUCH OF THE AREA POSSIBLY DEALING WITH MOSTLY
CLOUDY SKIES. FOR NOW WILL KEEP CONSERVATIVE ON HIGHS SAT AND SUNDAY
AND KEEP WITH PREV GRIDS OF PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH BEST CHANCE
FOR SUN IN SW AREAS.

MODELS DO AGREE ON RAPID MOISTENING THROUGH AT LEAST 700 MB BY
SUNDAY EVENING AS WEAK LOW PRESSURE TRIES TO DEVELOP IN RESPONSE TO
DIGGING UPPER LOW MOVING THROUGH THE CENTRAL PLAINS. CHANCE FOR
SHOWERS STILL LOOKS PLAUSIBLE FOR SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO SUNDAY
NIGHT. AFTER THIS MODELS VARY WITH ECMWF AND GEM SHOWING A
POSITIVELY TILED AND PROGRESSIVE TROUGH MOVING THROUGH INTO TUESDAY.
GFS IS MORE DELAYED WITH DEEP UPPER LOW DEVELOPING ACROSS THE
TENNESSEE VALLEY AND BECOMING NEGATIVELY TILTED INTO MID WEEK WITH
STG SFC DEVELOPMENT. WITH SLOWER AND STRONGER SYSTEMS BEING THE NORM
OF LATE...AM INCLINED TO LEAN TOWARDS THE GFS. HOWEVER...THAT BEING
SAID...WILL HOLD OFF ON EXPANDING POPS ANY FURTHER IN THE FORECAST
WITH BEST CONFIDENCE IN THE SUNDAY NIGHT/MON TIME FRAME FOR THE TIME
BEING.

&&

.IWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
IN...NONE.
MI...NONE.
OH...NONE.
LM...NONE.
&&

$$

SHORT TERM...ARNOTT
LONG TERM...FISHER
AVIATION...ARNOTT






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  • Page last modified: Nov 10th, 2009 17:45 UTC
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