Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service San Juan PR
550 AM AST Sat Apr 20 2019
.SYNOPSIS...High pressure at the surface will maintain moderate to
fresh trade wind flow across the area through Monday. A surface
low will develop northeast of the area that will turn winds more
northeasterly and bring the remnants of a cold front across the
area on Monday, followed by unstable conditions Tuesday and
Wednesday. Moisture will also increase late next week.
&&
.SHORT TERM...Today through Monday...
A surface high pressure located northeast of Bermuda and an
associated ridge extending southwestward over the western Atlantic
will continue to promote a moderate to fresh easterly flow across
the region through Sunday. Under this flow, patches of low-level
moisture will move across the forecast area, enhancing cloud cover
and shower activity. Overnight and early morning showers are
expected to stream across the waters into windward areas of the
islands, while afternoon convection is to favor the interior and
western sectors of Puerto Rico supported by diurnal heating and
local effects. Streamer-like showers are possible over the San
Juan metro area and eastern Puerto Rico downstream from El Yunque
and the local islands, respectively. Significant rainfall
accumulations are not expected due to dry conditions and
divergence aloft.
In the meantime, a mid-level short-wave trough, steered by a polar
trough moving over the western Atlantic, is to move over the
northeast Caribbean on Sunday until it weakens and gets absorbed by
a deep low migrating to the south-southwest over the central
Atlantic on Monday. The latter is forecast to reach a distance of
nearly 1200 miles northeast of Puerto Rico by midday Monday while
promoting a northeast flow across the region. This combination will
result in the weakening of the trade wind inversion and enhance mid-
level moisture transport while supporting deeper convective
instability on Sunday and Monday. Although the distribution of
showers will be of a seasonal structure, favorable conditions aloft
will result in enhanced shower coverage and intensity with moderate
to locally heavy rainfall. The forecast calls for the most intense
activity on Monday with an estimated PW of 1.57 inches, favoring
eastern Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the morning and
portions of the interior and southwestern Puerto Rico in the
afternoon.
.LONG TERM...Tuesday through Saturday
The upper level low will be closest to the local area Monday night
into Tuesday being 1200 miles east northeast of San Juan. An upper
level jet will wind through the trough over central Cuba and pass
just north of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and continue
south of the upper level low with winds in the local area ranging
from 75 knots over Puerto Rico to around 100 knots just north of
the local forecast area. The passage of the upper level trough to
the north and the approach of the mid level trough Tuesday and
Wednesday will bring 500 mb temperatures close to minus 11 degrees
C late Tuesday night and around minus 9 degrees on Tuesday.
Therefore have added the possibility of thunderstorms in southwest
Puerto Rico along and around the Cordillera Central on Tuesday
afternoon, since sufficient moisture should still be present to
generate convection that could break through 20 to 25 kft. On
Wednesday 500 mb temperatures warm slightly and moisture is
weaker. Although the forecast does not have afternoon
thunderstorms at this time, will check runs 24 hours hence to see
if conditions persist. The upper level trough will be past by
Thursday and total precipitable water will reach a minimum on
Thursday morning. Moisture begins to rise again Thursday through
Friday, as a patch of low-level moisture moves west through the
area, but dry mid layers and an atmosphere that is just barely
unstable will counteract most convection. Nevertheless, showers
will increase then.
A tropical wave will move through the tropical Atlantic mostly
below 10 north Tuesday and Wednesday, sending a plume of moisture
northeast behind it. It will enter the Caribbean well south of
the area, but that plume will move across Puerto Rico and the U.S.
Virgin Islands Saturday and Sunday and reinforce some of the low
level moisture that arrived the days before. Thus the period will
end with some of the best moisture of the entire week, but still
not completely up to what is usually seen by the end of April.
&&
.AVIATION...Mainly VFR conds will prevail across the local
terminals during the fcst pd. SHRA development is expected in the
vicinity of Mayaguez between 19/18z-23z, possibly affecting
TJMZ/TJBQ and resulting in brief MVFR conds and mtn obscurations.
Winds will be from the east at 5-15 knots, increasing after
20/13Z to 15-20 knots with gusts up to 30 knots and sea breeze
variations.
&&
.MARINE...Due to winds of 15 to 20 knots and locally higher around
Puerto Rico, seas begin to approach 7 feet today through Sunday
night. Therefore, have issued small craft advisories for seas up
to 7 feet. Seas are expected to slightly exceed 7 feet at the
outer buoy by Sunday night and some of this will also impinge on
the northeast corner of our forecast area then. Small craft
advisory conditions are not foreseen beyond this through 7 days.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
SJU 87 75 85 75 / 30 40 40 70
STT 87 75 86 73 / 20 20 20 40

