Friday, January 29, 2021

Intense Ocean Storm Rages At Sea Update Three








880
FXUS61 KCAR 300235
AFDCAR

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Caribou ME
935 PM EST Fri Jan 29 2021

.SYNOPSIS...
High pressure will build toward the region through Saturday and
move east on Sunday. Low pressure will approach from the south
Monday and track northeast through Wednesday.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY/...
935 PM Update: With still some very faint low top ref returns
on radar, we added a mention of scattered flurries to most of
the Rgn thru the remainder of the late eve. Otherwise, fcst
hrly temps/dwpts were updated into the late ngt hrs from latest
avbl sfc obs with no chgs to fcst low temps posted arnd 7 am
Sat morn.

Prev Disc: There will be enough of a pressure gradient between
the exiting trof of low pressure and high pressure building in
from the west to keep the atmosphere mixed enough to prevent any
widespread radiational cooling. Nevertheless, the air mass is
quite cold, and this will allow for overnight lows to fall to
near zero across the north, with even a few sub zero readings
possible across the north Maine Woods. Elsewhere, expect lows in
the single digits above zero all the way down to the coast.

Saturday will be a partly to mostly sunny and dry day. Afternoon
high temperatures will be in the lower teens across the north and
mid teens to around 20 central and downeast, which is a bit below
normal.

&&

.SHORT TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/...
Appendage of cold air will remain across western New England
through Monday morning. Overnight lows will largely fall into
the single digits above and below zero. The cold air is
filtering in around high pressure centered over James Bay. The
tighter pressure gradient over the eastern CWA keeps much of the
greater CAA to the west, over the Central Highlands and North
Woods. Although, with slackening winds in valley locations under
mostly clear skies, low temps Sat night stand to be cold across
the region regardless.

Sunday will be clear and cool with high pressure to the north.
Flow around the high will keep the chance for some stratocu deck
across the far north, but otherwise dry conditions forecast.

Light N winds continue Sun night with little net temperature
advection aloft. This lull comes ahead of a Mid-Atlantic low
pressure system set to redev along the East Coast.

Dry conditions are set to hold through the day Monday, with
cloudiness thickening and lowering ahead of the system.

&&

.LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/...
First steps into the long term highlight a potential winter
storm for the region. However, there remains a few outcomes that
leave room for greater confidence in the mid-week forecast.

Initial intensification of the low begins Sat across the
Central Plains, with it`s forecast track owning to it`s
origin...flat. It will be embedded in otherwise zonal flow
aloft which limits its track N/S. Redevelopment of the low is
forecast to take place across the Mid-Atlantic Monday night.
Here, there begins differing trends in guidance. At this stage
in the low`s cycle, air lifting aloft is caught by a SW jet
aloft, fracturing deeper clouds and moisture into the Atlantic
and Nova Scotia. For the GFS, this places much of the lift over
the waters with the potential for light accumulating snow
Downeast as the jet is placed further east due to a neutral
trough angle.

ECMWF and GEM remain fairly lock step, pushing the trough in a
slightly negative tilt which keeps the entrance region of the
exiting jet aloft over the area. This opens the chance for
accumulating snow Downeast and further inland, but the area of
lift works quickly across the region, keeping QPF generally
limited.

As a result, have kept PoPs highest Downeast, while increasing
them a bit further inland. Precip type will hinge on how much
cold air remains in place, however have sided to keep the area
all snow as WAA is generally weak when going against otherwise
ENE low level flow. Accompanying the system will be strong
winds along and over the waters.

Snow showers look to linger through the day Wednesday as
remaining moisture pivots out of the region. Dry conditions
shape up through the end of the week before another event
approaches heading into the weekend....

Intense Ocean Storm Rages At Sea Update Two












Intense Ocean Storm Rages At Sea Update One