105  
FXUS61 KCLE 020027  
AFDCLE  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH  
727 PM EST SUN DEC 1 2024  
   
SYNOPSIS  
 
A SURFACE TROUGH WILL CONTINUE TO IMPACT THE AREA THROUGH  
TUESDAY BEFORE A BRIEF RIDGE BUILDS ACROSS THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY  
INTO TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. ANOTHER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM  
WILL IMPACT THE GREAT LAKES REGION WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH  
THURSDAY BEFORE HIGH PRESSURE RETURNS FRIDAY.  
 
 
   
NEAR TERM /THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/  
 
6:30 PM UPDATE...  
 
THE FORECAST REMAINS ON TRACK THIS EVENING WITH NO CHANGES  
NEEDED, AT LEAST NOT YET. THE MAIN LAKE-EFFECT BAND THAT HIT  
MUCH OF LAKE COUNTY VERY HARD TODAY HAS WEAKENED AND BECOME  
MUCH LESS ORGANIZED THE PAST FEW HOURS. THIS APPEARS TO BE FROM  
BOTH SHEAR AND SUBSIDENCE BEHIND A SHORTWAVE THAT CROSSED THE  
REGION THIS AFTERNOON. SNOWFALL HAS LIGHTENED SIGNIFICANTLY AS A  
RESULT, ALTHOUGH THE BAND HAS BECOME MORE FANNED OUT AND IS NOW  
AFFECTING EASTERN CUYAHOGA, NORTHERN GEAUGA, CENTRAL AND  
SOUTHERN ASHTABULA, AND TRUMBULL COUNTIES, IN ADDITION TO LAKE  
COUNTY. THIS WILL BRING ADDITIONAL LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW THE  
NEXT FEW HOURS.  
 
THE LATEST RAP BUFKIT FORECAST SOUNDINGS SUGGEST THAT MOISTURE,  
LIFT, AND INSTABILITY WILL DEEP AGAIN LATER THIS EVENING THROUGH  
TONIGHT, WITH EQUILIBRIUM LEVELS PROGGED TO INCREASE TO 12-15  
THOUSAND FEET AGAIN WITH STRONG OMEGA THROUGH A SATURATED DGZ.  
THIS COMBINED WITH THE PERSISTENT SOUTH SHORE CONVERGENCE THANKS  
TO LAKE AGGREGATE THERMAL TROUGHING SHOULD ALLOW THE BAND TO  
BECOME BETTER ORGANIZED TONIGHT. IT MAY NOT BECOME AS HEAVY AS  
IT WAS THIS MORNING DUE TO CONTINUED SHEAR, BUT SNOWFALL RATES  
SHOULD INCREASE TO 1 INCH PER HOUR TONIGHT. IN TERMS OF BAND  
LOCATION, STILL FAVOR A POSITION NORTH OF THE HREF MEMBERS WHICH  
CONTINUE TO TURN THE LOW-LEVEL FLOW NW AND BREAK THE BAND UP  
TONIGHT. THE STRONG THERMAL CONVERGENCE NEAR THE SHORE SHOULD  
KEEP THE LOW-LEVEL FLOW MORE WESTERLY AND CAUSE A DOMINANT BAND  
TO REMAIN IN TACT OVER NE CUYAHOGA, SOUTHERN AND WESTERN LAKE,  
AND NORTHERN GEAUGA COUNTIES TONIGHT INTO AT LEAST MONDAY  
MORNING. THE BAND MAY WOBBLE A BIT AND AFFECT ADJACENT AREAS,  
BUT THIS SHOULD BE THE MAIN LOCATION. WITH ALL OF THIS IN MIND,  
CURRENT SNOWFALL FORECASTS LOOK GOOD, WITH AN ADDITIONAL 10-20  
INCHES OVER THESE AFOREMENTIONED AREAS THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING.  
FARTHER TO THE EAST, ADDITIONAL LAKE-EFFECT BANDS ARE TRYING TO  
ORGANIZE INTO ASHTABULA, ERIE, AND NORTHERN CRAWFORD COUNTIES.  
THIS SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY MORNING BEFORE THE FLOW  
TURNS MORE NW AND ALLOWS A LAKE HURON BAND TO CONNECT INTO NW  
PA. UNTIL THEN, LIGHTER SNOWS ARE EXPECTED IN NW PA GIVEN THE  
SHORTER FETCH TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY MORNING, BUT STILL COULD  
ADD UP TO 8-12 INCHES WHERE THE SQUALLS PERSIST. THE HIGHEST  
TOTALS MAY FINALLY FALL INLAND OF THE LAKE TONIGHT IN UPSLOPE  
FAVORED AREAS AS OPPOSED TO ON THE ALREADY BURIED LAKESHORE  
COMMUNITIES.  
 
ORIGINAL DISCUSSION...  
 
THE OVERALL FORECAST HAS NOT CHANGED MUCH FROM THE PREVIOUS  
UPDATE. THE ONLY CHANGE MADE WITH THIS MAIN FORECAST UPDATE IS  
EXTENDING THE LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING FOR ERIE COUNTY PA  
THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON OR UNTIL 00Z WEDNESDAY EVENING. THE  
EASTERN GREAT LAKES REGION REMAINS IN A LARGE CYCLONIC FLOW AND  
ON THE BACKSIDE OF A LARGE DEEP UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WHICH THE  
AXIS CENTER WAS LOCATED OVER SOUTHEASTERN QUEBEC THIS  
AFTERNOON.  
 
THE MAIN WEATHER STORY AND IMPACTS WILL COME FROM LAKE EFFECT  
SNOW IMPACTING THE PRIMARY AND SOME OF THE SECONDARY SNOWBELT  
AREAS OVER THE NEXT 36 HOURS. THERE HAS BEEN A MAIN LAKE EFFECT  
SNOW BAND THAT HAS SLOWLY DRIFTED SOUTHWARD FROM FAR NEOH DOWN  
CLOSER TO THE CLEVELAND METRO AREA. AS OF 315 PM EST, THE MAIN  
SNOW BAND IS HITTING LAKE COUNTY INTO NORTHERN GEAUGA VERY HARD.  
THIS BAND HAS NOW DRIFTED INTO NORTHERN AND NORTHEASTERN  
CUYAHOGA COUNTY AND THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING  
AND OVERNIGHT. THERE IS HIGH CONFIDENCE AMONGST THE HIGH-RES  
FORECAST GUIDANCE THAT IS MAIN BAND WILL POSITION ITSELF FROM  
WEST TO EAST ACROSS NORTHERN CUYAHOGA, LAKE, AND GEAUGA COUNTIES  
FOR MUCH OF THE NIGHT INTO MONDAY. THERE IS HINTS OF A WEAKER  
SECONDARY LAKE EFFECT SNOW BAND TRYING TO FORM OFFSHORE OF  
ASHTABULA AND ERIE PA THIS AFTERNOON WHICH MAY BECOME BETTER  
ORGANIZED TONIGHT INTO MONDAY.  
 
THE OVERALL MESSAGE IS ADDITIONAL HEAVY SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED IN  
THE SNOWBELT AREA ALREADY HARDEST IT AND NORTHERN AND EASTERN  
CUYAHOGA COUNTY WILL BE SEEING HEAVY SNOWFALL TONIGHT THROUGH  
MONDAY NIGHT. THERE IS A SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVING THROUGH RIGHT  
NOW THAT IS HELPING TO CHANGE THE LOW LEVEL FLOW TO MORE WEST-  
NORTHWESTERLY. THIS SUBTLE CHANCE IN THE LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL  
HELP KEEP THE LAKE EFFECT SNOW MACHINE GOING THROUGH MONDAY  
NIGHT WITH AREAS FROM THE CLEVELAND AREA TO ERIE PA SEEING HEAVY  
SNOWFALL. THE CURRENT LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNINGS ARE REMAIN ON  
TRACK WITH THE FORECAST SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. BE SURE TO SEE THE  
LATEST WSW TEXT PRODUCT AND THE DETAIL INFORMATION IN THE LAKE  
EFFECT SNOW WARNING FOR SPECIFIC SNOWFALL AMOUNTS AND  
EXPECTATIONS.  
 
ELSEWHERE OUTSIDE THE SNOWBELT REGION, THE WEATHER WILL BE  
RELATIVELY QUIET BUT COLD. THERE WILL BE VARIABLE CLOUDINESS  
THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. THERE MAY BE SOME PASSING  
SNOW FLURRIES OR VERY LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS FROM TIME TO TIME BUT  
NO SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OR IMPACTS ARE EXPECTED. HIGH TEMPS  
DURING THE DAY WILL BE IN THE UPPER 20S TO LOW 30S. OVERNIGHT  
TEMPS WILL BE IN THE UPPER TEENS TO LOW 20S.  
 
 
   
SHORT TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/  
 
ACTIVE WEATHER WILL PERSIST FOR THE SHORT TERM PERIOD AS LAKE EFFECT  
SNOW LINGERS ACROSS THE SNOWBELT ON TUESDAY, FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER  
STRONG SYSTEM WEDNESDAY NIGHT. ONLY HEADLINE UPDATES WITH THIS  
PACKAGE WERE TO EXTEND THE LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING FOR ERIE COUNTY  
THROUGH 7 PM TUESDAY.  
 
A RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD EAST ACROSS THE MIDWEST ON TUESDAY,  
THOUGH STUBBORN LAKE AGGREGATE TROUGHING UNDERNEATH A COLD AIR MASS  
AND PRIMARILY NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL RESULT IN CONTINUED LAKE  
EFFECT SNOW ACROSS THE SNOWBELT. THE MOST PERSISTENT AND HEAVIEST  
SNOW WILL LIKELY BE FOUND ACROSS ERIE COUNTY, PA, AIDED BY AN  
UPSTREAM LAKE HURON MOISTURE CONNECTION AND THUS HAVE EXTENDED THE  
CURRENT LAKE EFFECT WARNING THROUGH 7 PM TUESDAY. RESIDUAL LAKE  
EFFECT SNOW SHOULD EVENTUALLY LIFT NORTH OUT OVER LAKE ERIE TUESDAY  
NIGHT AS THE RIDGE AXIS BECOMES CENTERED OVERHEAD, SHIFTING FLOW  
TOWARDS THE SOUTHWEST.  
 
BY WEDNESDAY, A STRENGTHENING UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH WILL SWING  
SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES, EXTENDING A STRONG COLD FRONT  
THROUGH THE REGION AND USHERING IN A POTENTIALLY EVEN COLDER AIR  
MASS. WILL NEED TO MONITOR THE LOW-LEVEL WIND FIELD WEDNESDAY  
AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH SOUTHWEST 925 MB WINDS AROUND 35 TO 40  
KNOTS, LOWER CONFIDENCE IN THAT WIND FIELD TRANSLATING TO SURFACE  
GUSTS EXIST DUE TO THE INITIAL WARM AIR ADVECTION. WIDESPREAD  
PRECIPITATION WILL ARRIVE ACROSS THE AREA WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY  
THURSDAY MORNING WITH THIS SYSTEM WITH THE PRIMARY PRECIPITATION  
TYPE BEING SNOW, ALTHOUGH SOME RAIN MAY MIX IN, ESPECIALLY EARLIER  
IN THE EVENING.  
 
 
   
LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/  
 
ACTIVE WEATHER AND BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE FOR  
THE LONG TERM PERIOD. STRONG WINDS, LAKE EFFECT SNOW, AND  
SINGLE-DIGIT WIND CHILLS ALL APPEAR POSSIBLE.  
 
THE AFOREMENTIONED COLD FRONT WILL BE SWEEPING SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE  
AREA THURSDAY MORNING, USHERING IN ANOTHER COLD AIR MASS, WITH 850  
MB TEMPERATURES BRIEFLY DIPPING TO AROUND -15 DEGREES C THURSDAY  
AFTERNOON. STRONGER NORTHWEST FLOW WILL ACCOMPANY THIS COLD AIR  
MASS, SO ANTICIPATE THAT BOTH THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SNOWBELTS  
WILL HAVE ACCUMULATING SNOW POTENTIAL. MIXING HEIGHTS ARE EXPECTED  
TO RISE NEAR 850 MB IN THE WAKE OF THE COLD FRONT ON THURSDAY WHICH  
COULD RESULT IN WIND GUSTS OF 35 TO 40 MPH ACROSS THE REGION. AT  
THIS TIME, CONFIDENCE IS LOW (10 TO 30%) FOR WIND GUSTS GREATER THAN  
45 MPH, BUT WE'LL CONTINUE TO MONITOR TRENDS.  
 
LAKE EFFECT SNOW WILL LIKELY PERSIST THROUGH FRIDAY, THOUGH WILL  
BEGIN TO LIFT AND/OR SUBSIDE BY FRIDAY NIGHT AS ANOTHER WEAK RIDGE  
AXIS BECOMES CENTERED ACROSS THE OH VALLEY. MODELS ARE SHOWING THE  
POTENTIAL FOR ANOTHER CLIPPER-LIKE SYSTEM TO TRAVERSE SOUTHEAST  
THROUGH THE GREAT LAKES ON SATURDAY, THOUGH INITIAL SIGNS SUGGEST IT  
WON'T BE AS STRONG AS THE MID-WEEK SYSTEM.  
 
 
   
AVIATION /00Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/  
 
TRICKY, LOW CONFIDENCE TAF FORECAST CONTINUES, ESPECIALLY AT  
KYNG AND KERI WHICH WILL BE MOST FREQUENTLY IMPACTED BY LAKE-  
EFFECT SNOW SQUALLS. FIRST OFF, KTOL, KFDY, KMFD, AND KCAK  
SHOULD LARGELY REMAIN DRY AND VFR, WITH SOME MVFR POSSIBLE  
MONDAY. THERE WILL BE SOME PASSING FLURRIES AND SNOW SHOWERS AT  
ANY TIME DURING THE TAF PERIOD AT THESE TERMINALS, BUT OVERALL  
LOW IMPACTS ARE EXPECTED. FOR KERI, LAKE-EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS AND  
HEAVIER SQUALLS WILL CONTINUE TO BE VERY FREQUENT. THIS WILL  
MAINTAIN NEARLY CONSTANT MVFR TO IFR CONDITIONS. SOME PERIODS OF  
LIFR ARE POSSIBLE IN HEAVY SNOW, BUT THE WIND DIRECTION IS  
GRADUALLY TURNING MORE NW THROUGH THE PERIOD, SO THIS WILL MAKE  
TIMING HEAVIER SNOW SQUALLS VERY UNCERTAIN SINCE THERE WILL BE  
MULTIPLE, WEAKER BANDS AS OPPOSED TO THE SINGLE HEAVY BAND OF  
THE PAST FEW DAYS. KCLE AND KYNG WILL BE BRUSHED BY THE LAKE-  
EFFECT SNOWS AT TIMES. KYNG IS LIKELY TO BE AFFECTED MORE  
FREQUENTLY WITH NEAR CONSTANT LIGHT SNOW AND MVFR TO LOW END  
VFR, BUT THERE WILL BE HEAVIER SQUALLS PASSING THROUGH, SO TRIED  
TO TIME THESE WINDOWS IN PROB30 GROUPS WHERE VISIBILITY COULD  
DROP TO 1 MILE OR LESS. KCLE IS THE TOUGHEST. MOST OF THE  
IMPACTFUL SNOW SHOULD STAY NORTH OF THE TERMINAL, BUT THERE WILL  
BE FREQUENT LIGHT SNOW, AND USED PROB30 GROUPS THERE TOO FOR  
TRYING TO TIME WINDOWS OF HEAVIER SQUALLS THAT COULD DROP  
VISIBILITIES TO 1 MILE OR LESS.  
 
GENERALLY W TO WSW WINDS OF 5-10 KNOTS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE  
PERIOD, EXCEPT 10-20 KNOTS AT KERI TONIGHT.  
 
OUTLOOK...NON-VFR LIKELY IN LAKE-EFFECT SNOW BANDS THROUGH  
TUESDAY. THE HEAVIEST AND MOST-PERSISTENT LAKE-EFFECT SNOW IN  
OUR REGION IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE PRIMARY SNOWBELT IN FAR  
NORTHEAST OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA.  
 
 
   
MARINE  
 
ROUGH MARINE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST THROUGH THE WEEK FOR  
MUCH OF LAKE ERIE. FLOW WILL PRIMARILY REMAIN WEST TO NORTHWEST, 15  
TO 25 KNOTS, THROUGH TUESDAY, BEFORE BECOMING SOUTHWEST, 25 TO 30  
KNOTS, ON WEDNESDAY. CONFIDENCE IS INCREASING FOR GALE CONDITIONS  
BEHIND A STRONG COLD WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY AS WINDS SHIFT  
BACK TOWARDS THE NORTHWEST, 30 TO 35 KNOTS. ELEVATED NORTHWEST FLOW  
WILL PERSIST ON FRIDAY, 15 TO 25 KNOTS, WITH ADDITIONAL SMALL CRAFT  
HEADLINES NEEDED FOLLOWING ANY POTENTIAL GALES.  
 
 
   
CLE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES  
 
OH...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING UNTIL 7 AM EST TUESDAY FOR OHZ011>014-  
089.  
PA...LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING UNTIL 7 AM EST TUESDAY FOR PAZ003.  
LAKE EFFECT SNOW WARNING UNTIL 7 PM EST TUESDAY FOR PAZ001-002.  
MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM EST WEDNESDAY FOR LEZ145>149.  
 
 
 
 
 
SYNOPSIS...GRIFFIN  
NEAR TERM...GARUCKAS/GRIFFIN  
SHORT TERM...KAHN  
LONG TERM...KAHN  
AVIATION...GARUCKAS  
MARINE...KAHN  
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