056  
FXUS61 KBTV 190033  
AFDBTV  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT  
833 PM EDT SAT JUL 18 2026  
   
WHAT HAS CHANGED
 
 
AS OF 240 PM EDT SATURDAY...  
 
RISK OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAS DECREASED FOR THE  
REST OF TODAY, WITH LOWER THUNDERSTORM CHANCES AS WELL.  
 

 
   
KEY MESSAGES
 
 
AS OF 240 PM EDT SATURDAY...  
 
1. WHILE THE THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS IN OUR AREA HAS  
DECREASED, ROUNDS OF SHOWERS WITH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE  
INTO THIS EVENING. MEANWHILE, NEAR SURFACE SMOKE HAS RETURNED  
TO MUCH OF OUR REGION BUT WILL BE REPLACED BY CLEANER AIR AND  
LOW HUMIDITY FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY.  
 
2. CHANCES OF SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS RETURN FOR LATER  
TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY, OTHERWISE MAINLY FAIR AND SEASONABLE WEATHER  
IS EXPECTED TO END THE WORK WEEK.  
 

 
   
DISCUSSION
 
 
AS OF 240 PM EDT SATURDAY...  
 
KEY MESSAGE 1:  
 
A VIGOROUS SHORTWAVE TROUGH DIVING SOUTHEASTWARD OVER EASTERN  
ONTARIO ALONGSIDE A MODERATELY DEEP LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS  
PROMOTING WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION AND AREAS OF DEEP CONVECTION  
ACROSS THE NORTHEASTERN US. THE SYSTEM'S WARM FRONT IS HAVING A  
HARD TIME PUSHING EAST/NORTHEASTWARD, SUCH THAT ISENTROPIC LIFT  
HAS BEEN GENERATING STEADY RAIN WITH EMBEDDED DOWNPOURS ACROSS  
NORTHERN NEW YORK AND VERMONT. AS A RESULT, THE POSSIBILITY OF  
OUR REGION BECOMING DESTABILIZED VIA SURFACE HEATING HAS GREATLY  
DIMINISHED TODAY'S POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER EVENT. THE LIMITED  
THREAT AREA IS TRENDING TOWARDS THE ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY WHERE  
MLCAPE IS PROGGED TO SURGE TO NEAR 1000 J/KG BY 7 PM AMIDST  
PARTIAL CLEARING, WHICH COULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR LOCALIZED  
DAMAGING WIND IF THERE IS SOME STORM ORGANIZATION/LINEAR  
CONVECTION IN THE LATE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING. THIS AREA IS THE  
MOST LIKELY TO SEE ANY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AS WELL, ALTHOUGH  
SOME THUNDER CAN'T QUITE BE RULED OUT FARTHER EAST INTO THE  
ADIRONDACKS AND PERHAPS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF VERMONT GIVEN  
OTHERWISE, THE REST OF THE DAY IS SHAPING UP TO BE MERELY  
SHOWERY AND BREEZY, WITH RAIN-COOLED AIR AND THICK CLOUDS MAKING  
FOR THE COOLEST DAY WE HAVE SEEN SINCE JUNE.  
 
AS THE SYSTEM'S COLD FRONT PRESSES EASTWARD THROUGH OUR REGION  
BETWEEN ABOUT 9 PM AND 1 AM, WINDS WILL SHIFT WESTERLY AND TREND  
NORTHWESTERLY, USHERING IN A RETURN TO DRY AIR. RELATEDLY, MOST OF  
THE WILDFIRE SMOKE THAT HAS PUSHED NORTHWARD INTO NORTHERN NEW  
YORK AND VERMONT, ESPECIALLY HIGHER ELEVATIONS, THIS AFTERNOON  
WILL BE STEERED OUT OF THE REGION. UNFORTUNATELY, A DIFFERENT  
PLUME OF SMOKE FROM THE NORTHWEST WILL LIKELY PUSH INTO NORTHERN  
NEW YORK OVERNIGHT, WHICH COULD ONCE AGAIN DEGRADE AIR QUALITY.  
AT THIS TIME, THE CONCENTRATIONS LOOK LESS SIGNIFICANT THAN WHAT  
WE ARE SEEING CURRENTLY FOR NOW, AIR QUALITY ALERTS REMAIN IN  
EFFECT TODAY; THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL  
CONSERVATION AT HTTPS://ON.NY.GOV/NYAQI AND VERMONT AGENCY OF  
NATURAL RESOURCES WEB SITE AT HTTPS://DEC.VERMONT.GOV/AIR-  
QUALITY/LOCAL-AIR-QUALITY-FORECASTS WILL HAVE MORE INFORMATION.  
ASIDE FROM ANY LINGERING SMOKE CONCERNS, ANOTHER EXTENDED  
STRETCH OF HIGH PRESSURE AND PLEASANT TEMPERATURES ARE  
ANTICIPATED SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING.  
 
KEY MESSAGE 2: OVERALL, DETERMINISTIC SOLUTIONS AND THEIR ACCOMPANYING  
ENSEMBLE BLENDS SUPPORT A PERSISTENCE FORECAST INTO THE MIDDLE AND  
LATTER PORTIONS OF NEXT WEEK SO I'LL CONTINUE WITH THIS IDEA. THE  
MAIN WEATHER FEATURE OF NOTE WILL BE THE APPROACH/PASSAGE OF A  
FRONTAL SYSTEM LATER TUE/WED. AT THIS TIME, THE BEST FORCING LOOKS  
TO ARRIVE IN THE OVERNIGHT HOURS THUS LIMITING THE THREAT OF SEVERE  
WEATHER. HOWEVER, PWAT VALUES DO CLIMB AOA 1.5 INCHES, SO LOCALLY  
HEAVY DOWNPOURS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH ANY DEEPER CONVECTIVE CORES.  
BEHIND THE FRONT, SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE AND A MUCH DRIER AIRMASS  
ARRIVE FOR LATE WEEK (THU/FRI) WITH FAIR/DRY WX RETURNING. MODEL-  
AVERAGED 925 HPA THERMAL PROFILES THROUGH THE PERIOD SUPPORT  
PLEASANTLY SEASONABLE MID-SUMMER TEMPERATURES WITH DAILY HIGHS IN  
THE MID 70S TO LOWER 80S AND OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE MID 50S TO LOWER  
60S.  
 

 
   
AVIATION /00Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/
 
 
THROUGH 00Z MONDAY...COLD FRONT TRANSLATING FROM NW-SE ACROSS  
NRN NY AND VT WILL BRING FINAL ROUND OF SHOWERS THROUGH 03-04Z  
THIS EVENING AT MOST TAF LOCATIONS. WILL SEE OCCASIONAL MVFR  
CONDITIONS, A COMBINATION OF THE WILDFIRE SMOKE PRODUCING 3-5SM  
VSBY AND OCCASIONAL DROPS IN VSBY ASSOCIATED WITH MODERATE  
RAINFALL LASTING 20-40 MINUTES OR SO. AN ISOLD THUNDERSTORM  
CAN'T BE RULED OUT THRU 03Z. SURFACE WINDS SHIFT NW OVERNIGHT  
AT 10-15KT WITH SOME GUSTS 20-25KT, LIKELY HIGHEST AT BTV.  
SHALLOW FRONTAL INVERSION MAY LEAD TO SOME TRAPPED SMOKE 09-13Z  
BEFORE BETTER DAYTIME MIXING ON SUNDAY ALLOWS ANY ASSOCIATED  
VSBY RESTRICTIONS TO END. CAN'T RULE OUT SOME CEILINGS 1-2KFT  
AROUND SUNRISE, ESPECIALLY AT KSLK. DRYING NORTH WINDS WILL  
ALLOW THESE LOW CLOUDS TO DISSIPATE BY 12-13Z WITH VFR FOR THE  
BALANCE OF THE TAF PERIOD ON SUNDAY.  
 
OUTLOOK...  
 
SUNDAY NIGHT: VFR. NO SIG WX.  
MONDAY: VFR. NO SIG WX.  
MONDAY NIGHT: VFR. NO SIG WX.  
TUESDAY: VFR. LIKELY SHRA, CHANCE TSRA.  
TUESDAY NIGHT: MAINLY VFR, WITH LOCAL MVFR POSSIBLE. DEFINITE  
SHRA, CHANCE TSRA.  
WEDNESDAY: MAINLY MVFR, WITH AREAS IFR POSSIBLE. DEFINITE SHRA,  
CHANCE TSRA.  
WEDNESDAY NIGHT: MAINLY VFR, WITH AREAS MVFR POSSIBLE. SLIGHT  
CHANCE SHRA.  
THURSDAY: VFR. SLIGHT CHANCE SHRA, SLIGHT CHANCE TSRA.  
 

 
   
MARINE
 
 
SEASONABLY STRONG SOUTH-SOUTHEAST WINDS HAVE BEEN MIXING ON LAKE  
CHAMPLAIN DURING THE DAY TODAY, RESULTING IN OBSERVED WINDS AT  
COLCHESTER REEF AS HIGH AS 27 KNOTS SUSTAINED EARLY THIS  
AFTERNOON AND LIKELY LARGE WAVES ON BOTH THE BROAD LAKE AND  
NORTHERN WATERS IN THE 2 TO 4 FOOT RANGE. PEAK WINDS WILL  
PERSIST IN A 20-30 KNOT RANGE ON THE BROAD LAKE THROUGH EARLY  
EVENING BEFORE DIMINISHING AND THEN PICKING UP TONIGHT OUT OF  
THE NORTHWEST BEHIND A COLD FRONT. THESE WINDS OVERNIGHT WILL  
ALSO POTENTIALLY REACH 25 KNOTS AND PRODUCE ROUGH WAVES WITH A  
STRONG WESTERLY COMPONENT AND DEEPER MIXING WILL HELP PRODUCE  
GUSTY CONDITIONS. GRADUALLY WINDS AND WAVES WILL SUBSIDE DURING  
THE SUNDAY MORNING TIMEFRAME.  
 

 
   
BTV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
VT...AIR QUALITY ALERT UNTIL 11 PM EDT THIS EVENING FOR VTZ001>011-  
016>021.  
NY...AIR QUALITY ALERT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT FOR NYZ026>031-  
034-035-087.  
 

 
 

 
 
WHAT HAS CHANGED...KUTIKOFF  
DISCUSSION...KUTIKOFF/JMG  
AVIATION...BANACOS  
MARINE...  
 
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