490  
FXUS65 KPSR 260000  
AFDPSR  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ  
500 PM MST FRI APR 25 2025  
   
UPDATE
 
 
00Z AVIATION DISCUSSION.  
 

 
   
SYNOPSIS
 
 
A WEATHER SYSTEM WILL TRAVERSE THE GREAT BASIN THIS WEEKEND  
RESULTING IN FREQUENTLY BREEZY CONDITIONS WITH WIND GUSTS PEAKING  
SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS SYSTEM WILL ALSO CAUSE  
TEMPERATURES TO FALL NEARLY 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL BY THE END OF  
THE WEEKEND. HOWEVER, READINGS ARE LIKELY TO QUICKLY REBOUND TO NEAR  
SEASONAL NORMALS BY TUESDAY AS WEAK HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS BACK OVER  
THE WESTERN UNITED STATES.  
 

 
   
DISCUSSION
 
 
AFTERNOON WV IMAGERY AND OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS DEPICTS MEAN LONGWAVE  
TROUGHING OVER WESTERN NORTH AMERICA WITH SEVERAL VORTICITY CENTERS  
ROTATING THROUGH THE CYCLONIC FLOW ACTING TO FURTHER CARVE OUT  
DEEPER NEGATIVE HEIGHT ANOMALIES ACROSS THE SW CONUS DURING THE NEXT  
72 HOURS. AS IS TYPICAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR, SHALLOW MOISTURE WILL  
REMAIN TRAPPED ON THE WINDWARD SIDE OF THE COASTAL RANGE IN THE FORM  
OF A PERSISTENT MARINE LAYER. HOWEVER, MODEST HEIGHT FALLS COMBINED  
WITH AN INCREASING PRESSURE AND THERMAL GRADIENT CROSSING INTO  
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL SUPPORT PERIODS OF STRONG, GUSTY WINDS THIS  
EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. WHILE NOT THE MOST OPTIMAL SETUP,  
THERE IS SUFFICIENT INGREDIENTS AND MODEL SUPPORT FOR HYDRAULIC  
JUMPS AND MOUNTAIN ROTORS NAVIGATING WELL INLAND OFF THE HIGHER  
TERRAIN THIS EVENING, AND HAVE MADE MINOR AREAL EXPANSION OF THE  
ONGOING WIND ADVISORY. IN ADDITION TO CREATING DIFFICULT DRIVING  
CONDITIONS FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES, AREAS OF BLOWING DUST  
EMANATING FROM THE USUAL AREAS AROUND BORREGO SPRINGS, AS WELL AS  
RECENTLY DISTURBED AGRICULTURAL FIELDS ACROSS THE IMPERIAL VALLEY  
AND NORTHERN MEXICO WILL BE POSSIBLE.  
 
MODELS ARE IN EXCELLENT AGREEMENT PUSHING THE COLD CORE AND  
DEEPENING VORTICITY CENTER ONTO THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST  
SATURDAY AFTERNOON WITH RENEWED HEIGHT FALLS AND COOLING  
TROPOSPHERIC TEMPERATURES ENTERING THE FORECAST AREA. WHILE THE MAIN  
BRUNT OF THE SYSTEM WILL LIFT INTO SOUTHERN NV AND THE GREAT BASIN  
THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEKEND, INLAND HEIGHT FALLS AND DEEP  
MECHANICAL MIXING DEPTH WILL PARTIALLY TAP A STRENGTHENING JET CORE  
FORMING DOWNWIND OF THE CENTRAL CIRCULATION. AS SUCH, WIDESPREAD  
BREEZY CONDITIONS SATURDAY WITH GUSTS 25-35 MPH WILL BECOME COMMON  
DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. WHILE HREF MEMBERSHIP IS NOT  
COMPLETELY SUPPORTIVE, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE REDUCED THERMAL GRADIENT  
THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, WILL NEED TO MONITOR THE POTENTIAL FOR  
ANOTHER ADVISORY EXPANSION INLAND FOR SATURDAY EVENING. OTHERWISE,  
THIS SYSTEM WILL FUNNEL UNSEASONABLY COOL AIR INTO THE SOUTHWEST  
DROPPING TEMPERATURES NEARLY 10F BELOW NORMAL SUNDAY. BY THIS TIME,  
HEIGHTS FALLS AND JET ENERGY WILL HAVE LARGELY LIFTED AWAY FROM THE  
CWA SUCH THAT ONLY LINGERING MUTED GUSTINESS MORE TYPICAL FOR MID  
SPRING WILL REMAIN.  
 
DURING THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK, THE FORECAST AREA WILL FALL  
UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE TRAILING END OF A POSITIVELY TILTED FULL  
LATITUDINAL TROUGH WITH H5 HEIGHTS GENERALLY RISING, BUT STILL  
SEQUESTERED NEAR 570DM UNDER CYCLONIC FLOW. WHILE THIS PATTERN WILL  
YIELD LITTLE TO NO WEATHER IMPACTS FOR THE REGION, TEMPERATURES  
WILL RESPOND BY QUICKLY REBOUNDING TO NEAR NORMAL LEVELS. ENSEMBLE  
SPREAD BEGIN TO GROW MARKEDLY TOWARDS THE END OF NEXT WEEK AS THE  
INFLUENCE OF A CENTRAL PACIFIC BLOCKING PATTERN MIGRATES INTO THE  
WESTERN CONUS. THE RANGE OF POSSIBLE OUTCOMES VARIES WIDELY FROM  
PREDOMINANT RIDGING AND MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES, TO SOME  
FORM OF A REX BLOCK BECOMING ESTABLISHED OVER THE REGION YIELDING  
WEAKER HEIGHT FIELDS AND FAIRLY NORMAL TEMPERATURES, TO INCOMING  
DEEP NEGATIVE HEIGHT ANOMALIES AND ANOTHER BRIEF PERIOD OF BREEZY  
CONDITIONS AND COOLER TEMPERATURES. NOT SURPRISINGLY, ENSEMBLE  
FORECAST TEMPERATURE SPREADS ARE IN EXCESS OF 20F GIVEN THESE  
POSSIBILITIES RESULTING IN LOW FORECAST CONFIDENCE BEYOND THE END  
OF NEXT WEEK.  
 

 
   
AVIATION
 
UPDATED AT 2350Z.  
 
SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA INCLUDING KPHX, KIWA, KSDL, KDVT:  
THE MAIN AVIATION CONCERN WILL CONTINUE TO BE AFTERNOON/EARLY  
EVENING BREEZINESS ACROSS THE REGION. OCCASIONAL GUSTS INTO THE  
TEENS TO 20 KTS WILL BE POSSIBLE UNTIL SPEEDS DIMINISH BELOW 10  
KTS AFTER SUNSET. THE TYPICAL DIURNAL RETURN TO EASTERLY FLOW IS  
EXPECTED TO OCCUR BETWEEN 07Z-09Z. A VERY SIMILAR WIND PATTERN IS  
EXPECTED AGAIN ON SATURDAY WITH A FEW HOURS OF SOUTHERLY WINDS IN  
THE MORNING FOLLOWED BY A SLOW TRANSITION TO THE SOUTHWEST WITH  
GUSTS INCREASING TO AROUND 20 KTS BY THE AFTERNOON. CLEAR SKIES  
WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE PERIOD.  
 
SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA/SOUTHWEST ARIZONA INCLUDING KIPL AND KBLH:  
THE MAIN AVIATION CONCERN OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS WILL BE BREEZY TO  
LOCALLY WINDY CONDITIONS, PARTICULARLY AT KIPL. GUSTS ARE EXPECTED  
TO RANGE FROM 25-30 KTS OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS, HOWEVER HIGH-  
RES MODEL GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO INDICATE A PERIOD OF HIGHER GUSTS  
LIKELY REACHING 35+ KTS AT TIMES AFTER SUNSET. THESE ENHANCED  
WINDS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE AREAS OF BLOWING DUST  
WHICH COULD TRANSLATE TO WINDOWS OF REDUCED VISIBILITIES. WINDS AT  
KBLH WILL REMAIN BREEZY OUT OF THE S-SW OVERNIGHT. CLEAR SKIES  
WILL PREVAIL DURING THE FORECAST TIMEFRAME.  
 

 
   
FIRE WEATHER
 
 
AN APPROACHING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL INCREASE SOUTHWEST WINDS  
THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH WIDESPREAD GUSTS TO BETWEEN 20-35 MPH, AND  
THE STRONGEST GUSTS LIKELY OCCURRING SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  
THIS WILL RESULT IN AN ELEVATED FIRE DANGER, PARTICULARLY FOR HIGHER  
ELEVATION OF EASTERN DISTRICTS. TEMPERATURES COOLING BELOW NORMAL  
WILL ALLOW AN INCREASE IN HUMIDITY LEVELS, AND IN COMBINATION WITH  
SOME FUELS NOT QUITE FULLY CURED SHOULD PRECLUDE CRITICAL FIRE  
WEATHER CONDITIONS. OTHERWISE, AFTERNOON MINRHS WILL GENERALLY FALL  
INTO A 15-25% RANGE THROUGH THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK BEFORE  
RETURN TO A 10-15% RANGE BY THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. FAIR TO GOOD  
OVERNIGHT RECOVERY OF 30-60% WILL RETREAT TOWARDS POOR TO FAIR (20-  
40%) DURING THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK AS TEMPERATURES WARM BACK  
TOWARDS THE SEASONAL NORMAL.  
 

 
   
PSR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
AZ...NONE.  
CA...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 5 AM PDT SUNDAY FOR CAZ562.  
 
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR CAZ566-567.  
 

 
 

 
 
DISCUSSION...18/WHITTOCK  
AVIATION...SALERNO  
FIRE WEATHER...18/WHITTOCK  
 
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