If you are looking for fresh snow by Christmas morning or are curious about potential travel disruptions, the best chances for at least 1" of new snowfall early this week exist across the mountainous West, Great Lakes, and Northeast. Otherwise, temperatures this last full week of December will average above normal for much of the lower 48 states. Read More >
DAY 1 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1259 AM CDT FRI APR 10 2009 VALID 101200Z - 111200Z ...THERE IS A MDT RISK OF SVR TSTMS THIS AFTN/EARLY EVE ACROSS PARTS OF MIDDLE/ERN TN...NRN AL...NR GA INTO PARTS OF WRN NC/SC.... ...THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS SURROUNDING THE MDT RISK AREA...FROM PARTS OF THE MID SOUTH/NRN GULF STATES INTO THE LEE OF THE SRN APPALACHIANS.... ...SYNOPSIS... A CLOSED MID-LEVEL CIRCULATION IS NOW IN THE PROCESS OF FORMING WITHIN AN AMPLIFYING TROUGH IN THE SOUTHERN BRANCH OF SPLIT POLAR FLOW...OFF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST. AND...MUCH OF THE MODEL GUIDANCE IS SIMILAR...INDICATING THAT THIS FEATURE WILL TURN EASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INTO THE LOWER COLORADO VALLEY LATER TODAY/TONIGHT. AS THIS OCCURS...UPPER RIDGING APPEARS LIKELY TO BUILD THROUGH MUCH OF THE PLAINS/LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND CENTRAL GULF COASTAL AREAS...IN THE WAKE OF THE WEAKENING REMNANTS OF THE COMPACT AND VIGOROUS CLOSED LOW NOW PROGRESSING EASTWARD INTO/THROUGH THE OZARK PLATEAU. JUST HOW FAST THIS LATTER SYSTEM WEAKENS...TO THE SOUTH OF A NORTHERN STREAM TROUGH PROGGED TO DIG ACROSS THE EASTERN CANADIAN PROVINCES AND UPPER GREAT LAKES REGION...IS A BIT UNCERTAIN. BUT...IT WILL ENCOUNTER AT LEAST A SOMEWHAT MORE CONFLUENT REGIME BETWEEN THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN STREAMS...ACROSS THE LOWER OHIO/TENNESSEE VALLEYS INTO THE MID ATLANTIC STATES. REGARDLESS...LOW AND MID-LEVEL JET STREAKS ACCOMPANYING THIS FEATURE ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN STRONG AND SUFFICIENTLY SHEARED TO SUPPORT CONTINUING SEVERE POTENTIAL...AS A MOIST AND POTENTIALLY UNSTABLE GULF RETURN FLOW DEVELOPS THROUGH THE MID SOUTH AND NORTHERN GULF STATES INTO THE LEE OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. ...MID SOUTH/NRN GULF STATES INTO LEE OF THE SRN APPALACHIANS... THE BOUNDARY LAYER OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO STILL IS IN THE PROCESS OF MODIFYING IN THE WAKE OF A PRIOR FRONTAL PASSAGE. BUT...NCEP SREF SUGGESTS A HIGH LIKELIHOOD OF SURFACE DEW POINTS NEAR OR JUST ABOVE 60F RETURNING NORTHWARD INTO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AND SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS...AND MID/UPPER 50S DEW POINTS FARTHER NORTH INTO THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY/CENTRAL APPALACHIANS TODAY. THE LEADING EDGE OF THE HIGHER MOISTURE CONTENT AIR WILL PROBABLY BE COINCIDENT WITH A ZONE OF ENHANCED LOWER/MID TROPOSPHERIC WARM ADVECTION ON THE EDGE OF SUBTROPICAL RIDGING BUILDING NORTHEASTWARD THROUGH THE CENTRAL/EASTERN GULF STATES. AND...THIS FORCING...DOWNSTREAM OF THE BASE OF THE APPROACHING MID-LEVEL SHORT WAVE IMPULSE...IS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE THE FOCUS FOR INTENSE CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT BY THE AFTERNOON HOURS...ACROSS MIDDLE AND EASTERN TENNESSEE...MUCH OF NORTHERN ALABAMA AND GEORGIA...INTO THE WESTERN CAROLINAS. LOW-LEVEL HODOGRAPHS ACROSS THIS REGION ARE EXPECTED TO BE LARGE AND CLOCKWISE CURVED NEAR A 30-50 KT SOUTHWESTERLY 850 MB JET AXIS. AND...50-70 KT WESTERLY MID-LEVEL FLOW NEAR THE 500 MB JET AXIS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO STRONG DEEP LAYER SHEAR. SHEAR PROFILES APPEAR QUITE FAVORABLE FOR THE EVOLUTION OF CLASSIC LONG LIVED SUPERCELLS...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE DAMAGING HAIL AND A FEW TORNADOES...IN THE PRESENCE OF THERMODYNAMIC PROFILES CHARACTERIZED BY STEEP LAPSE RATES WITH MIXED LAYER CAPE OF 1000- 2000 J/KG. AT THE SAME TIME...A BAND OF STRONGER FORCING ASSOCIATED WITH THE MID-LEVEL CYCLONIC VORTICITY CENTER IS EXPECTED TO CONTRIBUTE TO AT LEAST A BROKEN LINE OF STORMS AS IT SPREADS ACROSS KENTUCKY/ TENNESSEE DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS...JUST AHEAD OF THE WEAKENING SURFACE LOW. DEEP LAYER SHEAR ACROSS KENTUCKY...WELL NORTH OF THE POLAR JET AXIS...IS EXPECTED TO BE MORE MODEST THAN AREAS TO THE SOUTH...WITH INSTABILITY ALSO A BIT WEAKER. BUT...LOW-LEVEL HODOGRAPHS WILL STILL PROBABLY BE CLOCKWISE CURVED AND SIZABLE...SUPPORTIVE OF A FEW EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS WITH THE ENHANCED RISK FOR DAMAGING WINDS/LARGE HAIL...POSSIBLY ISOLATED TORNADOES. LARGE-SCALE FORCING IN ADVANCE OF THE WEAKENING UPPER IMPULSE IS EXPECTED TO STRENGTHEN EAST OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS THROUGH REMAINDER OF THE CAROLINAS BY THIS EVENING. BUT...WEAKER DESTABILIZATION...ASSOCIATED WITH A MORE LIMITED LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE RETURN AND THE ONSET OF DIURNAL COOLING...MAY MITIGATE SEVERE POTENTIAL...OR AT LEAST RESULT IN A GRADUAL DIMINISHING TREND TO CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY LIKELY TO SPREAD ACROSS THE REGION. ..KERR/GRAMS.. 04/10/2009 CLICK TO GET WUUS01 PTSDY1 PRODUCT NOTE: THE NEXT DAY 1 OUTLOOK IS SCHEDULED BY 1300Z |