...SUMMARY...
Widespread thunderstorms are expected from the ArkLaTex to the
Western Appalachians on New Year's Day. All severe-weather hazards
are possible including large hail, damaging winds, and a few
tornadoes.
...Synopsis...
A positively tilted upper-level trough will be centered over the
Great Basin at the beginning of the period. This trough will
maintain its positive tilt as it shifts eastward across the Plains
and into the Midwest by 12Z Sunday. A negatively tilted mid-level
shortwave trough will move quickly from the southern High Plains
across the Midwest and Ohio Valley Saturday to the northeast by
Sunday morning. A surface reflection of this mid-level shortwave
trough is expected to travel along the front, with a most likely
path from the Ozarks through the Ohio Valley and into the
Mid-Atlantic. However, some timing differences do remain, which
could shift both the track and the intensity of the surface low. The
00Z NAM was is slower than the GFS and ECMWF with the ejecting wave,
which results in a deeper and more northerly low-pressure track.
...ArkLaTex into the western Appalachians...
Severe thunderstorms will likely be ongoing in portions of
Mid-Mississippi Valley to the Arklatex at the beginning of the
period. Mid 60s dewpoints are forecast as far north as the
Tennessee/Kentucky border with upper 60s dewpoints across Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Alabama. This should be sufficient for at least
modest destabilization ahead of storm activity even with extensive
cloud cover in place. Greater instability is expected to develop
across Mississippi and Alabama where upper 60s dewpoints are
expected, and where guidance shows at least some breaks in the
clouds, which may allow some surface heating.
Strong shear will be in place across the entire warm sector. Expect
60 to 80 knots of mid-level flow and a broad low-level jet with 50+
knots of flow and a peak of 65 to 70 knots in the Tennessee Valley.
Most 00Z guidance shows more backed surface flow across the warm
sector than what was shown previously due to either a stronger
surface low, a farther south track, or the slower timing. However,
the flow still remains mostly south-southwest across the warm sector
which results in less low-level turning in the lowest 1 km of the
hodograph than would be expected for a greater tornado threat.
Therefore, differences in storm intensity will be primarily driven
by storm mode and regions of locally backed surface flow. The mostly
boundary-parallel surface flow will also be less favorable for
discrete supercell development within the warm sector. The strong
shear will favor some supercell structures within linear segments
and clusters, but storm mode may remain quite messy.
A zone of greater severe-weather threat likely exists in the
northern Mississippi, northern Alabama, Tennessee region, but too
many uncertainties remain at this time to add higher probabilities.
These uncertainties include: