Wednesday, March 17, 2021

Mar. 17 21

 Area Forecast Discussion

Issued by NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

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604
FXUS64 KHGX 172336
AFDHGX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
636 PM CDT Wed Mar 17 2021

.AVIATION [00Z TAF Issuance]...

Moderate westerly winds will become northwesterly going into the
evening and overnight hours. Expecting the gusty winds of 20-25
kts to be on and off through the overnight hours for most sites and
become a bit stronger tomorrow morning as steep low-level lapse
rates extend to 1km. Skies remain clear throughout the entire TAF
period. Out in West Texas, an area of dust is moving towards the
southeast. Expecting the bulk of this to remain west of our
terminals. Lighter amounts of dust have already entered the
region, but this is not impacting visibilities enough to mention
it in the TAFs. 26

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION /Issued 326 PM CDT Wed Mar 17 2021/...


.SHORT TERM [Through Thursday Night]...
High pressure building in across SETX with a round of early Spring
very severe weather across LA/MS/AL tonight and Thursday. Weather in
SETX should be dominated by clear skies and dry northwesterly winds
as a second cold front pushes through the region tonight.

Gusty conditions this afternoon and redeveloping inland around 9 or
10 am Thursday. Dewpoints will be much lower with very dry air
getting wrapped up into the low to the east from TX and expect
afternoon humidity Thursday to park in the 23-40 percent range for
most of the area...making for a pleasant afternoon with temperatures
only reaching the mid 60s to lower 70s.
45

.LONG TERM [Thursday Night Through Wednesday]...
In the wake of this latest frontal passage, NW winds and a high
pressure is expected to settle in over our area and bring with it
some cooler and drier conditions through the weekend. Daytime
highs on Friday and Saturday will be pleasant and near 70. Clear
skies during the overnight hours will enhance radiational cooling
and bring overnight temps to the 40s and 50s.

As the surface high slides to the east and out of our area on
Saturday and Sunday, onshore SW winds will resume by Sunday morning.
This pattern will bring a warmer and more moist air over our region,
helping to increase cloud cover and drive our temperatures up. By
Sunday and Monday, daytime highs will reach the mid 70s and
overnight lows will be near 60.

By Monday, long term models are hinting at the return of rain
chances. Onshore flow and an approaching upper-level trough
towards our west will aid in theta-e advection, increase our
instability, and raise our PWATs to 1.25 inches. The GFS is most
aggressive with this onshore flow and shows a decent capping
inversion at 850mb, so any convection should be shallow and
scattered. By Tuesday, another upper-level trough and surface
front should push through SE Texas. The GFS, once again, is being
more aggressive than other global models. The GFS shows stronger
500mb PVA, and places the 500mb trough axis further to the east
and more negatively tilted than other models. The GFS also places
a 250mb jet streak directly over our CWA. All these ingredients
lead to a decent surface front developing and pushing across our
region. The ECMWF shows a similar pattern, but upper-level support
is not as strong and the trough axis is slightly further west,
therefore, the surface front pushing across our region is weaker.

By Wednesday, both the GFS and ECMWF indicate another shortwave
trough and band of precip developing in the wake of Tuesday`s front,
but the placement of this precipitation differs greatly. The ECMWF
places rain over our CWA whereas the GFS places it over the FL
panhandle. Long story short, our next round of rain chances are
Monday through Wednesday, with a front passing through our region
sometime on Tuesday.
KBL


.MARINE...
Moderate onshore winds will begin to shift to the west and northwest
today as a front leaves our coastal waters. Exercise Caution winds
will persist through this afternoon for our 20 to 60 nm offshore
waters. In the wake of the front tonight, northwest winds and seas
will build to Small Craft Advisory Criteria for our offshore waters
and Exercise Caution for our bays. Strong offshore winds will
persist through at least Friday until a high pressure system settles
in. As this high pressure moves east this weekend, southeast winds
will resume by Sunday and persist through early next week.
KBL


.FIRE...
Much needed rainfall (0.10-1.0") across the region today though the
Matagorda/Jackson county area could have used more given the drought
in the west/southwestern counties.

Northwest winds in the wake of the cold front tonight will
strengthen Thursday morning and will be mixing down some drier air
likely bringing RH values down into the 20s across the west so may
see some slightly elevated fire weather conditions. Dry air remains
firmly parked over the region on Friday with lighter northerly
winds.
45

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...

College Station (CLL)  45  66  42  68  41 /   0   0   0   0   0
Houston (IAH)          47  67  46  68  46 /   0   0   0   0   0
Galveston (GLS)        51  66  51  67  51 /   0   0   0   0   0

&&

.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...

TX...None.
GM...SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION from midnight CDT tonight
     through Thursday afternoon for the following zones:
     Galveston Bay...Matagorda Bay.

     Small Craft Advisory from midnight tonight to 1 PM CDT Thursday
     for the following zones: Coastal waters from Freeport to
     Matagorda Ship Channel TX out 20 NM...Coastal waters from
     High Island to Freeport TX out 20 NM...Waters from Freeport
     to Matagorda Ship Channel TX from 20 to 60 NM...Waters from
     High Island to Freeport TX from 20 to 60 NM.


&&

$$

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