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Category: Long Range Discussion
Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/video-analyzing-rainfall-totals-1st-half-of-june-look-ahead/
May 29
Light At The End Of The Tunnel From The Recent Dry Regime?
In our JMA Weekly recap from last week, we noted the model was transitioning towards a wetter pattern for early and mid June.
It’s encouraging to see the latest ensemble data from the American GFS and European (courtesy of TropicalTidbits.com) support this idea, as well.
In addition to a wetter pattern, we would also want to pay attention to the potential of a gusty storm complex or two riding southeast around the hot dome off to our southwest.
After an unusually dry May (- 3.44″ as of this post), Alberto’s remnant moisture will help us, at the very least, cut into the rainfall deficit tomorrow. Longer term, it sure is nice to see the medium range guidance in agreement on a wetter time of things. As we’re all aware, this is a crucial time to determine the overall long-standing summer pattern. Dry ground and early warmth can easily “feedback” on itself, and it’s easy to understand some of the concern, particularly AG-related over the past few weeks. With that said, it’s certainly not too late to try and at least ease some of the worry a bit.
When we look at the MJO, we note the amplitude and it’s forecast to swing through the wetter phases, at least locally, (4,5,6) through the month of June:
In closing, the JMA Weeklies led the charge in the idea of more active times returning in June, and the combination of GFS and European ensemble data suggests they had merit. With the added bonus of having the MJO on our side, it’ll be hard to avoid a change of the guard towards an overall wetter pattern in the weeks ahead. Perhaps Alberto’s remnant moisture is only the beginning…
Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-from-the-recent-dry-regime/
May 24
Looking Over The New JMA Weeklies…
The JMA Weeklies update every Thursday morning and this gives us another tool to look at when developing the forecast over the upcoming 3-4 weeks. Here are some highlights from the most recent update:
Week 1
The big story in Week 1 is the surge of tropical moisture with the area of disturbed weather in the GOM (Gulf of Mexico). Unfortunately, it’s not until possibly Week 2 that remnant tropical moisture may interact with an approaching cold front to provide better rain chances here. The big story for the balance of the upcoming Week 1 period, locally, will be the heat. An unseasonably warm stretch will continue through the Memorial Day weekend and on into the middle of next week.
Week 2
The model shows a bit of a transition in the pattern with the core of the heat shifting west during the Week 2 period. With this, there are some hints that the pattern will turn increasingly wet and stormy, locally, including a backing off of the extreme 90° heat.
Weeks 3-4
An intriguing “ring of fire” pattern develops in the Weeks 3-4 time frame. If correct, this would result in a more active pattern across the Mid West with a busy northwest flow pattern emerging. Storm complexes are notorious for tracking in a northwest to southeast fashion around the hot dome. Sure enough, the model is going with a wetter than normal pattern here. It’s hard to disagree with that given the look at 500mb.
Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/looking-over-the-new-jma-weeklies/
May 21
Storms Rumble In This Evening; Warm Open To Meteorological Summer…
A stalled frontal boundary remains draped across the Ohio Valley this morning. We note ongoing showers across northern Indiana and Illinois, along with considerable cloudiness in association with the front. Also of interest is the disturbed weather off the FL peninsula this morning. Models differ on the evolution of things, but both the GFS and European model suggest we may have a tropical depression or weak tropical storm on our hands by the Memorial Day weekend. Is it more of a threat to the central Gulf Coast region, such as the European implies, or more of a Carolina event? It’s simply too early to know, but it’ll be fun to watch things play out this week.
Back here on the home front, a quiet start to our Monday will turn stormy at times this evening as the front nears. We think best coverage of showers and thunderstorms will come between 5p and 10p. There will be some winners and losers when it comes to rainfall amounts by midnight. Some can expect over an inch in the stronger storms while others may only see a tenth of an inch, or so. Something that must be taken into forecasts moving forward is the tendency of most model data (high resolution and global data alike) to “over forecast” rainfall amounts as of late. Also of note is for the potential of a couple of strong to severe storms to develop this evening. We always have to be wary of fronts draped across central Indiana as they’ve been known to help tornadic activity spin up. We’ve lost count of how many slight risk days with warm fronts nearby that turn busy… If you’re planning to be outdoors this evening, please have a means of receiving the latest watches and potential warnings that may be issued.
High pressure will build in for the midweek period and supply plentiful sunshine along with continued warmer than average conditions. Overnight lows will fall into the upper 50s (couple of degrees above average) with the drier air mass in place, but afternoon highs will continue to climb into the lower and middle 80s (around 10 degrees above average).
Good news this morning for all of the Race Day and Memorial Day weekend activities is that forecast models are backing off (seeing a common theme?) on the magnitude and overall coverage of showers and thunderstorms associated with our next system. While we’ll maintain widely scattered thunderstorms in our Saturday-Monday forecast, much more of the time period will be free of any rain and storm activity.
Longer term, thoughts are shifting towards the open to meteorological summer (where is this year going?!). The GFS ensemble suggests the overall warm pattern remains intact as we open a new season with widespread warmth expected through the first few days of the June.
Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/storms-rumble-in-this-evening-warm-open-to-meteorological-summer/
May 16
Wednesday Morning Rambles…
1.) A narrow, but persistent band of downpours continues to fall just south of the metro this morning. Places from Martinsville to Trafalgar and Shelbyville are enjoying needed rain this morning.
2.) Overall, a drier air mass will build into central Indiana today and Thursday (cooler, too) before moisture returns to close the week. Scattered showers and embedded thunder are more likely Friday and again late Sunday into Monday.
3.) Looking ahead, we notice a more active pattern is presented off the overnight GEFS model. The heat ridge backs west and sets up a busy “ring of fire” pattern with a northwest flow aloft across our region. We have a ways to go before developing consistency and overall confidence, but this is at least an encouraging sign. The end result, should this come to fruition, would be a significantly wetter open to June.
Permanent link to this article: https://indywx.com/wednesday-morning-rambles-8/