519  
FXUS63 KARX 041141  
AFDARX  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI  
641 AM CDT SAT MAY 4 2024  
   
KEY MESSAGES
 
 
- ANOTHER ROUND OF RAIN MOVES THROUGH THIS MORNING AND EARLY  
AFTERNOON, SOME THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE SOUTH OF I-90. FOG  
POSSIBLE TONIGHT ALONG AND EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.  
 
- DRY AND PLEASANT WEATHER FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY WITH HIGHS  
CLIMBING BACK INTO THE UPPER 60S TO MID 70S.  
 
- AN ACTIVE STRETCH OF WEATHER FROM MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH AT  
LEAST THURSDAY AS MULTIPLE ROUNDS OF SHOWERS MOVE THROUGH.  
SEVERE WEATHER RISK FOR TUESDAY IS TRENDING SOUTH.  
 

 
   
DISCUSSION
 
 
ISSUED AT 330 AM CDT SAT MAY 4 2024  
 
TODAY INTO TONIGHT: COOLER, SHOWERS ESPECIALLY THIS MORNING  
 
EARLY THIS MORNING, A SURFACE COLD FRONT STRETCHED FROM OMAHA,  
NE TO ASHLAND, WI AND STEADILY MARCHES SOUTHEASTWARD TODAY AHEAD  
OF A PARENT NORTHERN STREAM UPPER TROPOSPHERIC TROUGH QUITE  
EVIDENT IN WATER VAPOR IMAGERY OVER THE DAKOTAS. AN MCV  
DEVELOPED ACROSS EASTERN NEBRASKA OVERNIGHT AS CONVECTION FROM  
THE PREVIOUS DAY CONGEALED INTO A LARGER MCS THAT STRETCHES DOWN  
TO CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. THIS COMPLEX LIFTS ALONG THE FRONTAL  
BOUNDARY THIS MORNING, AND WHILE EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY WEAKEN  
THROUGH THE MORNING, SHOULD BRING WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION WITH  
ITS PASSAGE. INDEED, EVERY EPS/GEFS MEMBER HAS MEASURABLE  
PRECIPITATION AND EVERY CAM SHOWS THE SYSTEM HOLDING TOGETHER  
WITH ITS PASSAGE, WITH MINOR TIMING DIFFERENCES DRIVING DOWN THE  
POP VALUES IN THE BLENDED CONSSHORT DATA. THEREFORE, LEANED  
MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH POP COVERAGE THIS MORNING WITH THE NOTION  
THAT EVERYONE SHOULD SEE RAIN AT SOME POINT THIS MORNING.  
 
THE MCV DRAGS UP A NARROW MOIST SECTOR OF 55-60 F DEWPOINTS  
TODAY (CURRENTLY SOUTH OF IOWA), BUT CONFIDENCE IS NOT TERRIBLY  
HIGH WITH HOW FAR NORTH THIS AIRMASS ADVANCES. ADDITIONAL  
CONVECTION IS PROGGED TO DEVELOP ALONG THE OUTFLOW-REINFORCED  
FRONT IN EASTERN IOWA THIS AFTERNOON, WHICH COULD EASILY CUT OFF  
THE MOISTURE TRANSPORT AND LEAVE US WITH LITTLE ADDITIONAL  
AFTERNOON STORM ACTIVITY. THE TIMING OF THIS MORNING'S STORMS  
WILL DRIVE WHAT TRANSPIRES IN THE AFTERNOON, BUT ANY THREAT FOR  
STORMS WOULD EXIST OVER SOUTHWEST WI BEFORE EXITING BEFORE  
SUNSET. THE COMBINATION OF THE MORNING RAIN AND LOW CLOUDS  
LINGERING FOR THE AFTERNOON WILL KEEP HIGHS CONFINED IN THE 50S  
TO LOW 60S ON THE COOL SIDE OF THE BOUNDARY.  
 
LOOKING AHEAD TO TONIGHT, LOW CLOUDS IN THE WAKE OF THIS SYSTEM  
CLEAR OUT FROM WEST TO EAST FROM 00-06Z WITH SURFACE HIGH  
PRESSURE BUILDING IN ITS WAKE. THE SETUP IS SOMEWHAT SIMILAR TO  
WHAT WE SAW YESTERDAY MORNING WITH THE WIDESPREAD FOG, BUT  
RAINFALL AMOUNTS TODAY SHOULD BE LESS AND THE CLOUDS CLEARING  
SOONER. THIS MAY LIMIT THE FOG THREAT TO EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI  
RIVER, AND INDEED THE 00Z HREF HAS (NOISY) 20-40% PROGS FOR  
VISIBILITIES UNDER A MILE IN THIS REGION. DID INCLUDE THE  
MENTION OF FOG WITH THIS FORECAST UPDATE TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS  
SIGNAL. LOWS IN FAVORED SANDY SOIL REGIONS BOTTOM OUT IN THE LOW  
TO MID 30S TONIGHT AS WELL, WHICH MAY NECESSITATE TARGETED  
FROST HEADLINES.  
 
SUNDAY AND MONDAY: DRY, WARMING BACK UP  
 
UPPER LEVEL RIDGING BUILDS IN DURING THE DAY ON SUNDAY AND  
LASTS WELL INTO MONDAY, KEEPING THE AREA DEVOID OF ANY  
PRECIPITATION. DID INCREASE CLOUD COVER FOR SUNDAY OVER THE RAW  
NBM GUIDANCE WITH THE 03Z RAP AND 06Z HRRR BOTH SHOWING  
CONVECTIVE TEMPERATURES BEING REACHED AREAWIDE BY MIDDAY GIVEN  
THE COOLER AIRMASS ALOFT AND STEEP BOUNDARY LAYER LAPSE RATES.  
THIS SHOULD FACILITATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CUMULUS CLOUD DECK  
FOR THE AFTERNOON, THOUGH WITH GENERAL SUBSIDENCE THROUGH THE  
COLUMN AND A STOUT 40-50C DEWPOINT DEPRESSION DRY WEDGE ABOVE  
THE BOUNDARY LAYER, ANY CLOUDS WILL BE QUITE FLAT IN NATURE.  
THESE TYPES OF SKY COVERAGE SCENARIOS ARE VERY DIFFICULT FOR THE  
BLENDED GUIDANCE TO DEPICT AND THUS INCREASED SKY COVERAGE JUST  
ENOUGH TO GET SOME MENTION OF CLOUDS IN THE WORDED FORECAST.  
 
TEMPERATURES CLIMB BACK INTO THE UPPER 60S FOR HIGHS TODAY,  
WITH INCREASING SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW FOR MONDAY PUSHING HIGHS UP  
INTO THE LOW TO MID 70S. LATEST TRENDS IN THE MEDIUM RANGE  
GUIDANCE HAVE BEEN TO SHIFT THE THREAT FOR PRECIPITATION BACK  
INTO MONDAY NIGHT, SO DID REMOVE THE LAST VESTIGES OF THE 15-20%  
MULTI-RUN NBM BLENDED POPS FROM THE SOUTHWESTERN FORECAST AREA  
FOR MONDAY AFTERNOON.  
 
MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY: A WETTER STRETCH OF WEATHER  
 
CONVECTION OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS MONDAY AFTERNOON GROWS  
UPSCALE INTO THE EVENING AS IT MOVES INTO IOWA, GRADUALLY  
ERODING THE ALREADY NARROW WARM SECTOR THAT STRETCHES NORTH OF  
I-80. OVERALL TRENDS IN THE MEDIUM RANGE QPF DATA SHOW A  
WEAKENING SYSTEM UPON ITS ARRIVAL IN OUR FORECAST AREA, LIKELY  
AFTER MIDNIGHT FOR MOST LOCALES. THE OVERALL SEVERE WEATHER  
THREAT FOR TUESDAY HINGES ON THE PROPERTIES OF THE UPPER LEVEL  
WAVE PATTERN AND WHETHER OR NOT RECOVERY OF THE WARM SECTOR CAN  
TAKE PLACE IN THE WAKE OF THE MORNING MCS. THE MOST PROBABLE  
SCENARIO IS THAT THE EARLY MORNING STORMS SHUNT THE WARM SECTOR  
SOUTH AS THE UPPER WAVE PIVOTS THROUGH, KEEPING ANY SEVERE  
THREAT TO THE SOUTH.  
 
THE UPPER TROPOSPHERIC LONGWAVE TROUGH SEPARATES FROM THE FLOW  
AND MORPHS INTO A CUTOFF LOW FOR TUESDAY INTO THURSDAY,  
LINGERING OVER THE NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS DURING THIS TIME. THIS  
RESULTS IN MULTIPLE, ILL-TIMED WAVES OF PRECIPITATION AFFECTING  
THE REGION. TEMPERATURES COOL DOWN INTO THE 50S TO LOW 60S BY  
THE END OF THE WEEK UNDER THIS PATTERN, WITH THE GLOBAL GUIDANCE  
SPREAD INCREASING IN HOW LONG THIS CUTOFF LOW LINGERS BEYOND  
THURSDAY INTO NEXT WEEKEND.  
 

 
   
AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SUNDAY/
 
 
ISSUED AT 641 AM CDT SAT MAY 4 2024  
 
A BAND OF RAIN AND EMBEDDED SCATTERED STORMS WILL MOVE EAST  
NORTHEAST THROUGH THE AREA. CURRENTLY THINKING THAT THE  
THUNDER WILL STAY MAINLY SOUTH OF THE TAF SITES, SO I KEPT IT  
OUT OF THE FORECAST FOR NOW. THIS PRECIPITATION IS CURRENTLY  
MOVING INTO KRST AND IT WILL MOVE OUT OF THE AREA BETWEEN 04.16Z  
AND 04.19Z. IT WILL MOVE INTO KLSE AROUND 04.15Z AND EXIT THE  
AREA BETWEEN 04.17Z AND 04.21Z. THIS RAIN WILL LOWER CEILINGS  
TO IFR/MVFR AND VISIBILITIES WILL BECOME MVFR.  
 
AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE AREA THIS EVENING, SKIES WILL  
QUICKLY CLEAR. THERE COULD BE SOME FOG TONIGHT, BUT CONFIDENCE  
WAS NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO ADD IT AT THIS TIME.  
 

 
   
ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
WI...NONE.  
MN...NONE.  
IA...NONE.  
 

 
 

 
 
DISCUSSION...SKOW  
AVIATION...BOYNE  
 
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