OK. Let me get this off my chest, I am a weather nerd! My dad was a military and commercial pilot back in the day when there was no weather radar, so he learned weather and talked to me about it (not like my mother and sisters would listen). So I picked up on his interest in clouds and weather systems.
If you do not already have this page bookmarked (it's always my homepage, and yes I am a NWS observer, #RO93) you might want to give it a try...
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick....x=93&map.y=69 But the real fun zone occurs well below the pretty pictures at the top of the page. Scroll down to the menu on the lower right and tickle the link for "forecast discussion". Ah yes, sheer weather nerd bliss, but also valuable opinion from the coven of weather nerds at the local National Weather service office.
WARNING! If you are taking prescription meds (self prescribed or otherwise) or plan to operate heavy equipment do not read any further as drowsiness may occur (if it hasn't already). Here is the cut and paste from today's NWS Gray, Maine forecast discussion:
AFTER THE FRONT (cold front) PASSES (Thursday morning)...DOWNSLOPE WINDS SHOULD HELP PROMOTE
CLEARING MOST PLACES. BASED ON THIS...LEANED TOWARD THE WARMER GFS
MOS NUMBERS FOR HIGHS...WITH GUSTY WEST WINDS IN THE LATER MORNING
AND AFTERNOON.
WINDS SHOULD DROP OFF QUICKLY THURSDAY NIGHT...BUT INCREASING HIGH
CLOUDS SHOULD PREVENT A GOOD RADIATIONAL COOLING NIGHT. USED A
BLEND OF MOS NUMBERS FOR LOWS...AS CLOUDS SHOULD REMAIN HIGH AS
THE MID LEVEL RIDGE CRESTS OVER THE REGION OVERNIGHT.
BASED ON THE EXITING MID LEVEL RIDGE AND DRY INITIAL CONDITIONS...
LOOKS LIKE THE RAIN SHOULD HOLD OFF FOR MOST PLACES UNTIL FRIDAY
NIGHT. WOULD EXPECT INCREASING CLOUDINESS FOR MOST AREAS...MAINLY
DURING THE AFTERNOON. WITH HIGH PRESSURE CRESTING TO THE NORTH...WINDS
SHOULD BECOME ONSHORE...AND THIS WILL RESULT IN MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES
FRIDAY...ESPECIALLY NEAR THE COAST.
AS THE WARM AIR ADVECTION INCREASES FRIDAY EVENING...WOULD EXPECT
AN AREA OF RAIN TO DEVELOP FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST FRIDAY NIGHT.
AT THIS POINT...THE 0000 UTC ECMWF IS RUNNING COOLER THAN THAN THE
0000 UTC GFS...AND THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE PRECIPITATION
TYPE ISSUES. FOR NOW...LIMITED THE MENTION OF SNOW TO THE NORTHERN
ZONES...BU THE DRY AIR IN PLACE COULD RESULT IN AN ELEVATION DRIVEN
SNOW EVENT FRIDAY NIGHT...IF THE ECMWF IS CORRECT. IN ANY EVENT...LOWS
SHOULD BE REACHED AS THE PRECIPITATION STARTS...AND REMAIN FAIRLY
STEADY AFTER THIS.
LOOKS LIKE THE HIGHEST PRECIPITABLE WATER AIR ARRIVES LATE FRIDAY
NIGHT AND SATURDAY...WITH VALUES AS MUCH AS 2 TO 3 STANDARD DEVIATIONS
ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE TIME PERIOD. THIS WOULD BE FOCUSED IN THE MID
LEVEL LIFT JUST NORTH OF THE WARM FRONT. THE UPSLOPE COMPONENT
COULD ALSO RESULT IN MORE PRECIPITATION IN THESE AREAS.
FOR NOW...IT LOOKS LIKE THREE-QUARTERS TO ONE AND ONE-HALF INCHES
OF PRECIPITATION COULD FALL FRIDAY INTO SUNDAY. AS MENTIONED
EARLIER...THERE COULD BE A PRECIPITATION TYPE ISSUE IN THE TERRAIN
FRIDAY NIGHT. THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING...AND THIS IS
ADDRESSED IN THE HYDROLOGY SECTION BELOW.
THE BEST LIFT EXITS EARLY SATURDAY AFTERNOON...AND THERE COULD BE A
LULL IN THE PRECIPITATION BEFORE THE CLOSING MID LEVEL SYSTEM
APPROACHES. AS THE MID LEVEL SYSTEM APPROACHES...DYNAMIC COOLING
COULD RESULT IN MORE SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS...AND PERHAPS EVERYWHERE
SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT.
In short, after today, the conditions up there are going to be all over the map. Trending colder towards next week. Challenging to say the least.
Doug
Linear Mode
