Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Jan. 20 21

 Area Forecast Discussion

Issued by NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

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000
FXUS64 KHGX 210000
AFDHGX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
600 PM CST Wed Jan 20 2021

.AVIATION [00Z TAF Issuance]...

Aviation forecast remains on track with poor visibility and
ceilings conditions through most of the TAF period. A mix of MVFR
to LIFR conditions prevail with areas of dense fog and -DZ/VCSH
thanks to a quasi-stationary boundary roughly extending along and
north of a line from KVCT to KIAH to KLCH. KGLS and KLBX sites will
likely remain in IFR/LIFR conditions throughout the entire TAF
period. In fact, areas of dense fog will gradually expand inland
into KHOU/KSGR sites (possibly further north) overnight into
Thursday morning. The frontal boundary will lift north by Thursday
morning, bringing scattered light rain mainly across our inland
terminals. As of now, have VCSH after 16Z due to low confidence
in timing and coverage of showers.05

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION /Issued 400 PM CST Wed Jan 20 2021/...


.SHORT TERM [Today through Thursday Night]...
Sea fog moved into most of the coastal areas overnight and has
lasted into the afternoon hours as warm air (dew points in the 60s)
continues to be advected over the cool Gulf waters. The Dense Fog
Advisory for the coastal counties and near shore waters continues
into Thursday morning. A weak warm front is currently moving slowly
through the area and as of right now is right over downtown Houston.
Winds south of the front are easterly/southeasterly and winds north
of the front are northerly. Moisture is being trapped by an
inversion around 850 mb, so the low overcast cloud cover will remain
throughout the day. Coastal areas will have fog rolling in and out
throughout the day as evident by local webcams in Galveston. Due to
the cloud cover, temperatures not expected to rise too much with
highs mainly in the mid 60s. Let`s backtrack to the warm front
again. A few things will occur as a result of its passage. Overnight
temperatures tonight will be mild (upper 50s up north/low 60s down
south) and the sea fog will extend further inland, which will
warrant more counties being added to the Dense Fog Advisories going
into Thursday morning. A couple of inversions at 850 mb and 700 mb
with slightly drier air aloft is keeping the moisture profile
shallow, so not expecting anything more than mist for today/tonight.

This changes going into Thursday morning as the southerly winds will
increase PWATs up to 1.6"-1.8". Forecast soundings indicate that the
two inversions will be mixed out and the profiles will be saturated
up to 500 mb. With the increasing moisture and upper-level
divergence setting up, more moderate rain showers become likely
closer to the main moisture axis which will be just north of the CWA
initially on Thursday morning but moving south throughout the day.
Rain showers will fill in for the rest of us in the late
morning/afternoon hours on Thursday, but as previously mentioned
rainfall will be heavier the further north you go. Cloud cover
expected to remain overcast for Thursday as well, but with the
southerly winds the afternoon temperatures will be a bit higher in
the upper 60s/low 70s. This is all courtesy of an area of low
pressure that will be moving across Texas tomorrow along with
favorable jet mechanics providing divergence aloft. The low will
have a weak cold front associated with it that will be just
northwest of the CWA on Thursday night. As for temperatures on
Thursday night, expect them to be mild once again with lows in the
upper 50s up north and in the low-to-mid 60s down south. Sea fog
will move inland once again on Thursday night, so expect another
round of reduced visibilites and ceilings for at least the southern
half of the CWA. 26


.LONG TERM [Friday through Wednesday]...

With the weak cold front making its way through SE TX on Fri, POPs
will be on the decrease as a slightly drier air mass works its way
into the region Fri night. Warm high temperatures on Fri (lower to
mid 70s) are forecast to fall into the 50s br Fri night. This weak-
er CAA is likely due to the strong surface high building down more
to the east of the Mississippi River Valley. Another result should
be this weak boundary stalling/lingering just off the TX coast Fri
night...then moving back inland Sat afternoon/night. Kept with the
previous forecast of scattered POPs across the CWA for the weekend.
Sea fog could also remain an issue for our coastal counties/marine
areas through the weekend as the warm onshore flow persists.

The next upper trof is progged to move across Rockies late Sun and
then into the Southern Plains by Mon. This system should help draw
a strong cold front into/across the state on Mon. This timing does
seem a bit faster than previous ones (with both ECMWF and Canadian
about 6hrs ahead of the GFS). So, it will be interesting to see if
later runs keep with this trend. Otherwise, the return to more sea-
sonable temperatures are expected next Tues/Weds behind this front.
41


.MARINE...

Low visibilities via sea fog will remain the primary issue for the
bays/nearshore waters the next day or so. The Marine Dense Fog Ad-
visory has been extended and expanded to include our entire marine
FA until tomorrow afternoon. This may need to be extended into to-
morrow night/Fri morning as the next cold front is not expected to
reach the coast until perhaps Fri afternoon or evening. This break
from the sea fog may be short-lived as the main push of the colder
and drier air will be more east of the region. This along with the
boundary stalling just off the coast Fri night. S/SE winds are set
to return Sat and strengthen Sat night. This should bring a return
of sea fog/rain chances...and perhaps some elevated seas into Sun.
The next cold front should move off the coast Mon. 41

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...

College Station (CLL)  55  66  57  71  54 /  40  80  60  10   0
Houston (IAH)          61  72  63  73  57 /  20  60  60  30  10
Galveston (GLS)        59  66  62  68  58 /  10  20  40  40  20

&&

.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...

TX...Dense Fog Advisory until 9 AM CST Thursday for the following
     zones: Brazoria Islands...Chambers...Coastal
     Brazoria...Coastal Galveston...Coastal
     Matagorda...Galveston Island and Bolivar
     Peninsula...Matagorda Islands.

GM...Dense Fog Advisory until 9 AM CST Thursday for the following
     zones: Coastal waters from High Island to Freeport TX out
     20 NM...Galveston Bay.


&&

$$

Dense Fog Advisory

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
855 PM CST Wed Jan 20 2021

TXZ213-227-237-238-313-211500-
/O.EXA.KHGX.FG.Y.0004.000000T0000Z-210121T1500Z/
Inland Harris-Fort Bend-Inland Brazoria-Inland Galveston-
Coastal Harris-
Including the cities of Houston, Missouri City, Mission Bend,
Sugar Land, Rosenberg, First Colony, Pecan Grove, Pearland,
Alvin, Angleton, League City, Friendswood, Pasadena, and Baytown
855 PM CST Wed Jan 20 2021

...DENSE FOG ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM CST THURSDAY...

* WHAT...Visibility falling to one quarter mile or less in dense
  fog.

* WHERE...Inland Harris, Fort Bend, Inland Brazoria, Inland
  Galveston and Coastal Harris Counties.

* WHEN...Until 9 AM CST Thursday.

* IMPACTS...Hazardous driving conditions due to low visibility.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

If driving, slow down, use your headlights, and leave plenty of
distance ahead of you.

&&

$$

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