Thursday, April 15, 2021

Apr. 15 21

 Area Forecast Discussion

Issued by NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

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000
FXUS64 KHGX 152348
AFDHGX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
648 PM CDT Thu Apr 15 2021

.AVIATION [00Z TAF Issuance]...

Thunderstorms moving across the northern flying areas this evening
producing around pea size hail. As of 2340z, radar indicate the
northern portion of the line of cells weakening as it approaches
UTS/CXO area. Further to the south, a strong storm is moving towards
the IAH flying area and is expected around 0030z. This storm has
produced pea size hail and winds around 30kts. By around 01z, the
storms will be out of the flying areas with some scatted showers
left behind through the night. Tomorrow morning, IFR to LIFR
conditions are expected to return with lower ceilings at most TAF
sites. 35

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION /Issued 345 PM CDT Thu Apr 15 2021/...



.SHORT TERM [Today Through Friday Night]...

Upper disturbance and associated shra and elevated tstms moving
across ncntl Tx. Guidance is a mixed bag in regards to precip
coverage and intensity across se Tx in the next 6-9 hours. Previous
24 hours worth of CAMs showed a fair bit of consistency with a
cluster of strong elevated tstms developing and moving into the
Brazos Valley and sinking to the southeast toward the I-10 corridor
before weakening. Some of the recent runs aren`t quite as bullish,
though some of the global models are still holding out hope for
fairly decent coverage across parts of the area (mainly north of I-
10). Developing cluster north of Marble falls (340pm) may be the one
earlier guidance was pinging on.

Overall forecast confidence isn`t particularly very high. Will
taper POPs very slightly, but mainly ride with the ongoing fcst into
the evening and monitor trends. Recent aircraft soundings in the
area show a saturated warm nose between H95-H7 so confidence is
fairly high that any convective activity sagging into the CWA will
remain mostly elevated with large hail being the primary threat into
the mid-evening hours. Coverage/intensity diminishes a few hours
after sunset.

Otherwise, llvl flow will gradually veer to the se/s going into
Friday as high pressure edges ewd. A very messy zonal pattern
continues and the expectation is that another disturbance will
move into the region during the day and generate some shra and
possibly a few tstms. Better rain chances situated north of I-10.
This impulse is fcst to move east of the area before a cold front
moves into northern parts of the area Fri evening and off the
coast before sunrise Sat. Though there will be some decent llvl
convergence associated along the boundary, the deeper moisture
axis will likely have moved out of the area w/ the passing
disturbance. Suspect we`ll just see a narrow band of shra right
along the front as it passes through. 47


.LONG TERM [Saturday Through Thursday]...

Cold air advection and lingering cloud cover will keep temperatures
over the weekend below normal with highs in the mid-to-upper 60s for
Saturday and Sunday. Rain chances persist along the coast through
Saturday night due to lingering moisture (PW values around 1") along
with favorable jet mechanics (right entrance region) that will
provide the upper-level support. With virtually no instability in
place and dry air encompassing the atmospheric profile from the
surface up to 700mb, expecting only isolated to widely scattered
rain showers for Saturday. If anything, may have been too generous
on the PoPs, but the highest probabilities will remain over the Gulf
waters. Back to the CAA, overnight lows for Saturday and Sunday will
feature temperatures that are 7-10 degrees below normal. Lows will
dip down into the upper 40s/low 50s on each of these nights. CAA
comes to an early Monday morning as surface high pressure slides off
to the east and places the region in onshore flow by Tuesday.
Resultingly, highs will be back in the upper 70s for Tuesday. Want
to briefly mention that a shortwave trough will swing through the
region on Monday night, but forecast soundings indicate a profile
that is too dry aloft to support notable precipitation reaching the
surface.

GFS/ECMWF are in agreement on a surface cold front briefly pushing
into the region on Tuesday night, which will help bring overnight
lows back into the upper 40s/low 50s. Models agree that there will
not be much moisture in place ahead of this front, but there is a
bit of disagreement on if upper-level support will be present that
could try to squeeze out some rain showers along the boundary. For
now, leaned towards keeping PoPs out for this FROPA. Speaking of
model disagreements, there isn`t a clear answer as to how long the
CAA with this front will last but it will definitely be shorter than
Friday night`s front. ECMWF/Canadian keep CAA lingering through
Wednesday evening, while the GFS ends the CAA on early Wednesday
afternoon. This makes Wednesday`s high temperature forecast tricky
since one model shows afternoon WAA while others show persisting
CAA. Surface high pressure pushes off to the east by Thursday and
with strong onshore flow likely, moisture increases quickly with PW
values reaching 1.3"-1.7" by Thursday night. A shortwave trough
swinging down into the Southern Plains along with a developing
surface low pressure in north TX will combine to develop showers and
thunderstorms in the area going into Thursday afternoon.

Batiste


.MARINE...

Moderate northeasterly to easterly winds will prevail for the Gulf
waters through the evening hours. Onshore flow returns on Friday
morning ahead of our next cold front that will push through the
coastal waters on early Saturday morning. Anticipating moderate to
strong northeasterly winds in the wake of this front that will
prevail through the weekend. Resultingly, offshore seas will elevate
to 6-7 feet by Saturday afternoon and persisting through Sunday.
Rain showers will linger along the coast and Gulf waters through
Sunday morning with dry conditions following going into early next
week. Winds will gradually transition back to easterly on Monday and
southeasterly on Tuesday as surface high pressure slides off to the
east.

Batiste

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...

College Station (CLL)  63  76  53  65  49 /  80  80  40  10  10
Houston (IAH)          65  75  59  68  53 /  60  60  50  20  10
Galveston (GLS)        69  77  64  70  60 /  50  30  50  30  20

&&

.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...

TX...None.
GM...Small Craft Advisory until 7 PM CDT this evening 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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