Wahpeton, North Dakota 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

171
FXUS63 KFGF 150720
AFDFGF

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Grand Forks ND
120 AM CST Fri Nov 15 2024

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Rain and light snow this weekend, with a 40 - 60% probability
  for a tenth of an inch of snow accumulation or greater in the
  Devils Lake Basin.

- Unsettled pattern into next week. Predictability is lower
  right now, with scenarios highly dependent upon track of the
  system.

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 117 AM CST Fri Nov 15 2024

Areas of dense fog continue to affect portions of eastern North
Dakota and west central Minnesota this evening, with visibility
reductions down to a quarter of a mile. SPS was continued
through 6am to account for the fog in eastern North Dakota.
Potential for further fog to develop in the Red River Valley and
into north central Minnesota this morning.

UPDATE
Issued at 956 PM CST Thu Nov 14 2024

Fog has developed in the Devils Lake Basin, so an SPS was
issued. Fog remains possible in west-central Minnesota as well
but fog has not developed there yet. No other impacts are
anticipated.

UPDATE
Issued at 644 PM CST Thu Nov 14 2024

Clouds continue to linger across all of Minnesota and portions
of North Dakota. Fog remains possible this evening but the
confidence in this arising is low due to ongoing stratus.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 250 PM CST Thu Nov 14 2024

...Synopsis...

Stratus currently lingers over eastern North Dakota and the state of
Minnesota this afternoon. Clouds will stick around into the weekend
in some capacity across the majority of the FA. The possibility (20 -
 40% probability) for fog is present once again tonight, mainly in
northwestern Minnesota. The synoptic pattern will switch to more
unsettled, with a shortwave trough this weekend and a larger system
into mid next week. Looking at 850mb temperatures, the larger system
looks to secure the hold of colder air in the region. Temperatures
seem to reflect this, with highs dropping into the 30s by
Wednesday.

...Weekend Precipitation...

A shortwave trough will traverse through the northern plains this
weekend. This system is mainly a glancing blow for our FA, with the
northwestern portions around the Devils Lake Basin taking the brunt.
Currently, totals look to be less than an inch, with probabilities
for greater than a tenth of an inch of accumulation around 40 - 60%
in the northern Devils Lake Basin. For 1" or more, probabilities
drop to 10 - 20% and shrinks the likely area to northern Towner
county. When you look at QPF, more of the area along and north of US
HWY-2 will see some precipitation with this shortwave, but as you
move south and east of the Devils Lake Basin, the more likely
precipitation type is rain instead of snow.

...Next Week...

As for the larger system, the forecast gets less certain. We know
that a decent trough will impact the northern plains early to mid
week next week, but what we are still unsure of is impacts to
eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. The impacts we see
will be highly dependent on the track of the low pressure system,
which is not certain in guidance yet. There are two "dominant"
scenarios in guidance right now, a southerly track and a northerly
track. The southerly track would result in colder conditions here in
the FA, but limit our QPF and snow totals. The northerly track would
result in more QPF for the area because of warm air advection, but
snow totals in this scenario are still uncertain. As this system
moves out of the extended period and into the shorter term period,
things will become more certain, but it does look like the time for
the first flakes to fly in the area in near.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/...
Issued at 1019 PM CST Thu Nov 14 2024

The question right now is how much fog will we see tonight and
how significant will it be. Ceilings for the most part have
risen to MVFR outside of DVL. There is a signal for ceilings to
fall once again to IFR after 06z, but confidence in this
scenario is very low, so for now we`ve decided to keep the
prevailing MVFR. Eventually stratus should become VFR in
preparation for the next system of precipitation, but given how
today went with stratus it may linger around longer than
expected once again.

&&

.FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ND...None.
MN...None.

&&

$$

UPDATE...Perroux/Spender
DISCUSSION...AH
AVIATION...Perroux