Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Apr. 14 21

 Area Forecast Discussion

Issued by NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

Home | Current Version | Previous Version | Text Only | Print | Product List | Glossary Off
Versions: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
881
FXUS64 KHGX 142334
AFDHGX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
634 PM CDT Wed Apr 14 2021

.AVIATION [00z TAF Issuance]...

Activity long the weak frontal boundary should be waning with the
loss of daytime heating these next couple of hours. At this time,
not terribly confident that this line will move very far offshore
overnight given the lack of low-level push...probably stalling at
the coastline well after midnight. CIGS should fall again tonight
to mostly IFR with patchy areas of -DZ/-RA. Sea fog will remain a
factor along the coast (mainly GLS). Modest improvements expected
by late tomorrow morning, but progs of another east moving short-
wave along with daytime heating/proximity of the frontal boundary
should produce widespread VCSH (and possibly VCTS) chances by the
afternoon tomorrow. 41

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 336 PM CDT Wed Apr 14 2021/

SHORT TERM [Today Through Thursday]...

Weak frontal boundary/wind shift has pushed to to around the I-10
corridor. Seabreeze to the south has moved a few miles inland.
Resulting llvl convergent zone situated in between both. Further
aloft a weak shortwave was noted on w/v imagery across south Tx.
Shra and a few tstms have initiated across southern parts of the
area. Assuming cloudiness remains about the same, or thins, we`ll
have a few hours of daytime heating left. This and some enhanced
lift from the shortwave may allow a couple strong to severe cells to
develop between now and sunset. Forcing isn`t overly impressive, but
with somewhat steep lapse rates aloft there could be a hail threat
and strong winds in cells where stronger updrafts become
established. Localized heavy downpours can never be ruled out with
2" PW`s in place and a slow moving boundary/focusing mechanism.
Precip will weaken and coverage begin diminishing with the loss of
heating.

The boundary should push toward the coast, perhaps 10-30 miles
offshore later tonight. Llvls of the atmos saturate however, so
chances of -ra and/or drizzle will remain in the fcst overnight. Sea
fog closer to the coast and offshore will be an issue until ne winds
increase late tonight.

Cloudiness will remain in place Thurs. Combination of that and cooler
temps should minimize overall instability for most of the day. That
said, guidance pointing toward another shortwave embedded in the
zonal flow heading toward the region during the late afternoon hours
and generating some precip.  Better chances/coverage should be
situated across the nw/n parts of the area...and some of the 12Z
hires guidance pointing toward the possibility of some elevated
stronger cells near the Brazos Valley late in the afternoon and
evening. So, future shifts will need to keep an eye on hail threats
up that way.  47

LONG TERM [Thursday Night Through Wednesday]...

Going into Thursday night with lingering cloud cover, overnight
low temperatures will be rather mild in the low-to-mid 60s. As the
previous cold front becomes washed out off the coast, winds will
start out as easterly on Thursday night/Friday morning then
transition to a southeasterly wind. Resultingly, there will not be
a decrease in the moisture in the area as PW values hold steady
around 1.5"-1.8" through Friday afternoon. Another stronger cold
front will approach the region going into Friday night.
Instability in the area will range from 1000-1500 J/kg. This
should be enough to develop scattered thunderstorms along the
frontal boundary, especially in the southern half of the CWA. Jet
dynamics aren`t exactly favorable for upper-level support, so the
showers and thunderstorms that do develop will be the result of
low-level convergence along the front. Favorable jet dynamics do
come into the equation on Saturday as a departing jet streak
places the region in the right entrance region, so PoPs linger
throughout the day. With instability quickly dropping post-FROPA,
expecting only scattered coverage of rain showers on Saturday.

How about those post-FROPA temperatures? Well if you missed below
normal temperatures, then you`re in luck! Overnight lows on Friday
will feature low-to-mid 50s with lows in the 40s expected for both
Saturday and Sunday. In the daytime over the weekend, afternoon high
temperatures will struggle to reach the 70s thanks to CAA prevailing
through Monday morning. Surface high pressure moves overhead on
Monday and then slides off to the east by Tuesday, so temperatures
will be on an upward swing going into early next week. Fortunately,
only looking at highs in the mid-to-upper 70s for Tuesday and
Wednesday. Backtracking a little bit to Tuesday...GFS and ECMWF are
in agreement on a weak coastal low developing in the western GoM ,
but there is disagreement on how far north this low moves and also
how much moisture is associated with it. Leaned more towards the
ECMWF which keeps the low further south and our area dry, so PoPs
are minimal throughout the first half of next week. It is worth
noting that although the ECMWF indicates some spotty rain showers in
the afternoon/evening hours next week, forecast soundings indicate
that there will be too much dry air both aloft and near-surface to
get any significant precipitation to reach the ground.

Batiste

MARINE...

Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms are possible through the
evening hours today in the Bays and nearshore Gulf waters as a weak
cold front sits just north of the coast. Lingering coastal flooding
around Galveston Bay will continue to gradually decrease throughout
the day. The front will slowly move off the coast on Thursday with
winds becoming briefly northeasterly followed by a quick shift to
easterly by Friday morning. Onshore flow returns by Friday night
ahead of another stronger cold front that will push through the
coastal waters on early Saturday morning. Moderate to strong
northeasterly winds will develop in the wake of this front
throughout the weekend with caution to advisory level winds
anticipated.

Batiste

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
College Station (CLL)      59  70  61  75  52 /  30  50  60  70  40
Houston (IAH)              63  72  64  75  58 /  50  30  40  70  50
Galveston (GLS)            67  74  69  76  64 /  70  30  20  50  40

&&

.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...High Rip Current Risk until 8 PM CDT this evening for the
     following zones: Bolivar Peninsula...Brazoria Islands...
     Galveston Island...Matagorda Islands.

     Coastal Flood Advisory until 7 PM CDT this evening for the
     following zones: Bolivar Peninsula...Chambers...Coastal
     Galveston...Coastal Harris...Galveston Island.

GM...NONE.
&&

$$

No comments:

Post a Comment