027  
FXUS61 KBGM 200853  
AFDBGM  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY  
353 AM EST WED NOV 20 2024  
   
SYNOPSIS
 
 
CLOUDY AND WARM TODAY WITH SOME LINGERING MORNING RAIN SHOWERS.  
A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL BRING MUCH NEEDED RAIN AND  
POTENTIALLY THE FIRST MEASURABLE SNOWFALL OF THE SEASON FOR SOME  
HIGHER ELEVATIONS WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THE WEEKEND.  
 

 
   
NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 PM THIS EVENING/
 
 
230 AM UPDATE:  
 
THE WARM FRONT HAS MOVED INTO THE FINGER LAKES AND WESTERN  
MOHAWK VALLEY WITH TEMPS IN THE UPPER 40S TO LOW 50S. TEMPS EAST  
OF I-81 ARE IN THE LOW 40S AND SHOULDN'T FALL TO MUCH MORE WITH  
THE CLOUD COVER OVERHEAD. INCREASED SURFACE MOISTURE  
ACCOMPANYING THE FRONT HAS ALLOWED SOME RAIN SHOWERS TO REMAIN  
OVER THE AREA TONIGHT WITH THE PRECIPITATION REACHING THE  
GROUND IN THE FINGER LAKES. EAST OF I-81, SURFACE MOISTURE  
SEEMS TO BE TOO LOW AND FALLING PRECIP HAS BEEN MOSTLY VIRGA.  
SHOWERS SHOULD DISSIPATE BY SUNRISE.  
 
TODAY WILL BE CLOUDY AND MOSTLY QUIET AS WE SIT UNDER A WEAK  
RIDGE MOVING EASTWARD. SW FLOW INCREASES LATER THIS MORNING,  
BRINGING STRONG WAA INTO THE REGION AND PUSHING AFTERNOON  
TEMPERATURES INTO THE MID 50S TO LOW 60S; WELL ABOVE NORMAL FOR  
MID-NOVEMBER. TODAY WILL BE THE LAST QUITE WEATHER DAY FOR A  
WHILE AS OUR PATTERN CHANGES AND WE SEE A RETURN TO ACTIVE  
WEATHER TO FINISH OUT THE WEEK.  
 

 
   
SHORT TERM /6 PM THIS EVENING THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/
 
 
345 AM UPDATE...  
 
A FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH A STACKED LOW PRESSURE  
SYSTEM WILL PUSH INTO THE REGION WEDNESDAY NIGHT. TIMING OF THIS  
FRONT IS SLIGHTLY SLOWER THAN PREVIOUSLY FORECASTED, BUT IT WILL  
STILL BE QUICK TO MOVE THROUGH AS IT BRINGS WIDESPREAD RAIN TO  
THE REGION. COOLER AIR WILL FILTER IN WITH THIS FRONT SO  
CONDITIONS MAY BE COLD ENOUGH IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS FOR SOME  
SNOW TO MIX IN. THERE WILL BE AN AREA OF DRIER AIR BEHIND THE  
FRONT THAT WILL BRING A BRIEF BREAK IN THE PRECIPITATION FOR  
SOME WEST OF I-81. HOWEVER, A COASTAL LOW DEVELOPS BY THURSDAY  
MORNING AND WILL RETROGRADE AS IT COMES ONSHORE AND EVENTUALLY  
STALL OVER THE REGION THROUGH AT LEAST FRIDAY MORNING. AS A  
RESULT, SHOWERS WILL SPREAD BACK WESTWARD AS THEY BLANKET THE  
REGION.  
 
COOLER AIR AT 850 MB WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD ACROSS THE REGION,  
BUT WRAPAROUND FLOW WILL FAVOR WAA IN THE LOWER LEVELS DURING  
THE DAY ON THURSDAY. THIS WILL KEEP PRECIPITATION AS MAINLY RAIN  
FOR THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON PERIODS. BY THURSDAY  
EVENING, CONDITIONS WILL BE COOL ENOUGH FOR SNOW TO MIX IN AT  
THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. THE LOWER LEVELS WILL FINALLY COOL OFF  
ENOUGH OVERNIGHT FOR THERE TO BE A CHANGEOVER TO SNOW IN THE  
HIGHEST ELEVATIONS WITH SOME VALLEY LOCATIONS RECEIVING A MIX OF  
RAIN AND SNOW. MEANWHILE, UNUSUALLY STRONG EASTERLY FLOW NORTH  
OF THE REGION WILL ADVECT WARM AIR AND KEEP PRECIPITATION AS  
RAIN FOR THE NORTHERN COUNTIES IN THE CWA. MODELS CONTINUE TO  
SHOW FGEN BANDING IN THE LOWER LEVELS, THOUGH THESE AREAS HAVE  
TRENDED SOUTH INTO NEPA AS THE SYSTEM ITSELF HAS ALSO TRENDED  
SOUTH. WHILE IT IS UNKNOWN WHERE THE HEAVIER BANDS WILL SET UP,  
LOCALIZED AREAS WILL LIKELY SEE SOME HIGH SNOWFALL RATES  
THURSDAY NIGHT. ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED THROUGH AT  
LEAST FRIDAY FOR THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS. ELSEWHERE, AS  
CONDITIONS WARM DURING THE DAY, A TRANSITION BACK TO RAIN OR  
RAIN/SNOW MIX WILL OCCUR. THE STACKED LOW FINALLY BEGINS TO MOVE  
OUT OF THE REGION FRIDAY NIGHT AS IT SWINGS OUT OVER THE  
ATLANTIC. THIS WILL PULL SOME MOISTURE AWAY FROM THE REGION AND  
COVERAGE OF RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS BECOMES MORE SCATTERED. WITH  
THE POSITION OF THE LOW TO THE EAST, NORTHWEST FLOW WILL COME  
OFF OF LAKE ONTARIO AND LAKE ERIE. THIS WILL LEAD TO SOME LAKE  
EFFECT PRECIPITATION DEVELOPING OVERNIGHT. WITH SURFACE TEMPS  
NEAR FREEZING, EXCEPT OVER THE NORTHERN FINGER LAKES REGION,  
SNOW OR A RAIN/SNOW MIX CAN BE EXPECTED ONCE AGAIN OVER MOST OF  
THE REGION.  
 
OVERALL, THE TREND HAS SHIFTED A LITTLE SOUTH AND WEST COMPARED TO A  
FEW MODEL RUNS AGO. THIS HAS ALSO SHIFTED THE EXPECTED SNOWFALL  
TOTALS MORE SOUTH INTO NEPA. IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS, UP TO A FOOT  
MAY BE POSSIBLE. IN THE VALLEYS, SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE MUCH  
LOWER, ONLY A FEW INCHES AT BEST. AFTER COLLABORATING WITH  
NEIGHBORING OFFICES AND GETTING INPUT FROM WPC, A WINTER STORM WATCH  
WAS ISSUED FOR WYOMING, LUZERNE, LACKAWANNA, AND SOUTHERN WAYNE. FOR  
THE REST OF NEPA, AN ADVISORY WAS ISSUED. THERE IS A STRIPE OF HIGH  
TOTALS RIGHT ALONG THE SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY AND WAYNE COUNTY BORDER.  
IF THIS WERE TO SHIFT IN EITHER DIRECTION, THEN THE ADVISORY WILL  
NEED TO BE UPDATED. TOTALS HAVE TRENDED LOWER IN THE CATSKILLS BUT  
ARE STILL EXPECTED TO REACH ADVISORY CRITERIA IN THE HIGHER  
ELEVATIONS. THIS WILL BE A WET, HEAVY SNOW WHICH COULD LEAD TO  
ISOLATED POWER OUTAGES.  
 
AS MENTIONED IN PREVIOUS UPDATES, PRECIPITATION TYPES WILL BE  
DEPENDENT ON TEMPERATURES. THE NAM IN THE PAST HAS HANDLED MIXED  
PRECIP EVENTS WELL AND WHILE THIS IS NOT A TRUE MIXED PRECIP EVENT  
WHERE EVERY WINTER PTYPE IS OBSERVED, IT WAS FAVORED FOR  
TEMPERATURES DURING THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY NIGHT. ALSO, THERE  
IS SOME CONCERN THAT DYNAMIC COOLING DUE TO HEAVY PRECIPITATION  
COULD LEAD TO MORE SNOW THAN WHAT IS EXPECTED. THE COOLER NAM  
WAS BLENDED IN WITH THE NBM TO LOWER TEMPS AT NIGHT. IT WAS ALSO  
GIVEN A LITTLE WEIGHT FOR FRIDAY. BY USING THE NAM, THIS  
FORECAST HAS MORE SNOW OR RAIN/SNOW MIX THAN PREVIOUSLY  
FORECASTED. TEMPERATURES WILL MAX OUT IN THE 30S AND 40S WITH  
FRIDAY BEING THE COLDEST DAY. LOWS WILL BE IN THE 30S WITH MOST  
HOVERING AROUND FREEZING THURSDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHTS.  
 

 
   
LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/
 
 
300 AM UPDATE...  
 
THE STRONG TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO INFLUENCE THE  
WEATHER FOR THE WEEKEND. NW FLOW ON THE BACKSIDE OF THIS TROUGH  
WILL KICK OFF LAKE EFFECT RAIN SHOWERS FOR MUCH OF CNY THROUGH  
SUNDAY MORNING, DISSIPATING BY THE AFTERNOON HOURS. TEMPS WILL  
BE WARM ENOUGH THAT MOST OF THE PRECIP WILL BE RAIN, WITH HIGHER  
ELEVATIONS IN THE CATSKILLS SEEING LIGHT SNOW SATURDAY MORNING  
AND SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING.  
 
FOR THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK, WE SEE A MORE ZONAL UPPER LEVEL  
PATTERN, WHICH WILL ALLOW A FEW WEAK SHORTWAVES TO MOVE THROUGH  
THE AREA, KICKING OFF LAKE ENHANCED RAIN SHOWERS ACROSS THE AREA  
MONDAY AND TUESDAY.  
 

 
   
AVIATION /09Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/
 
 
A WARM FRONT MOVING ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT WILL LOWER  
CEILINGS TO MVFR AT AVP, BGM, ELM, ITH. THESE CEILINGS SHOULD  
STICK AROUND THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS, LIFTING TO VFR IN THE  
AFTERNOON AT AVP, BGM AND ITH. ELM IS EXPECTED TO KEEP MVFR  
RESTRICTIONS THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD. ISOLATED SHOWERS CURRENTLY  
MOVING ACROSS THE AREA SHOULD DISSIPATE IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF  
HOURS. CONFIDENCE IN ANY TERMINAL SEEING SHOWERS WAS TOO LOW TO  
INCLUDE IN THE TAFS.  
 
SYR AND RME SHOULD REMAIN VFR THROUGH MOST OF THE PERIOD. SYR  
COULD SEE SOME TEMPO MVFR CEILINGS DURING THE LATE MORNING/EARLY  
AFTERNOON HOURS.  
 
A SWATH OF RAIN WILL MOVE IN FROM THE WSW TOWARDS THE END OF  
THE TAF PERIOD, DROPPING ALL TERMINALS DOWN TO MVFR/FUEL ALT BY  
THE MID TO LATE EVENING HOURS.  
 
OUTLOOK...  
 
WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...RESTRICTIONS LIKELY WITH  
WIDESPREAD RAIN SHOWERS. RAIN MAY BECOME A WINTRY MIX OR JUST  
SNOW DURING OVERNIGHT HOURS.  
 
SATURDAY...CONTINUED POSSIBLE RESTRICTIONS IN RAIN AND SNOW  
SHOWERS, ESPECIALLY CENTRAL NY.  
 
SUNDAY...GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT. VFR PROBABLE FOR AVP WITH MVFR  
EXPECTED ELSEWHERE. MIXED RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS FAR NORTHERN AREAS.  
 

 
   
BGM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
PA...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 PM THURSDAY TO 4 PM EST FRIDAY  
FOR PAZ038>040-048.  
WINTER STORM WATCH FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY  
AFTERNOON FOR PAZ043-044-047-072.  
NY...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 4 PM THURSDAY TO 1 AM EST  
SATURDAY FOR NYZ057-062.  
 

 
 

 
 
SYNOPSIS...JTC  
NEAR TERM...JTC  
SHORT TERM...BTL  
LONG TERM...JTC  
AVIATION...JTC  
 
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.

The Nexlab NY Page
The Nexlab PA Page Main Text Page