598 FXUS63 KPAH 151914 AFDPAHArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Paducah KY 214 PM CDT Wed Oct 15 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- The rest of the work week will be warm and dry.
- Showers and thunderstorm chances return this weekend, with the best chances at some point on Saturday. There is some potential for strong to severe storms in the afternoon and evening. Considerable uncertainty remains in Saturday`s forecast.
- Cooler weather is expected Sunday into next week, and a slight chance of showers returns for Tuesday.
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.DISCUSSION... Issued at 214 PM CDT Wed Oct 15 2025
High pressure aloft will progress steadily eastward across the Quad State through Friday, while surface high pressure continues to nose westward into the region. This will result in a continuation of warm and dry conditions.
By Friday night, south winds will return and surface dewpoints will begin to climb into the lower 60s by Saturday morning. If the Quad State is unmuddled by morning convection, those south winds could gust 20-30 mph with mixing on Saturday.
A strong storm system is still expected to move eastward from the Plains into the Mississippi Valley from Saturday into Saturday night. There continues to be a lot of uncertainty in how convection will evolve with this storm system, but showers and thunderstorms are a good bet at some point over all portions of the Quad State.
There is still potential for a round of sub-severe showers and maybe a few thunderstorms moving east across the area Saturday morning. If this occurs and is late enough, enough instability could develop ahead of it over the Kentucky Pennyrile region to support some strong to near-severe storms there. Shear at this time will be increasing, but will be marginal at best to support severe storms.
The best chance of severe storms will be in the late afternoon and most likely the evening hours over southeast Missouri and southern Illinois, as the main storm system and cold front approach and eventually move through the region. Instability will be the main limiting factor in this time frame, as 0-3km and 0-6km shear become favorable for severe storms. The storm mode is also uncertain, but given the limited instability, damaging winds will likely be the primary concern, regardless of mode.
Stormtotal QPF is now down in the 1-1.5" range and that may be overdone. Only if areas get two significant rounds will those higher end numbers be likely, and at this point that looks to be rather isolated.
The front may hold up over west Kentucky into Sunday morning, so some chances of showers may linger, especially near the Tennessee border. Otherwise, dry conditions are expected Sunday through Monday with noticeably cooler air. With a nearly zonal flow pattern aloft, another storm system may impact the Quad State at some point Monday night through Tuesday. There is quite a range of possibilities in the medium range guidance, anywhere from a dry cold front, to something similar to Saturday`s system.
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.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY/... Issued at 1209 PM CDT Wed Oct 15 2025
The only threat to VFR conditions for the 18Z TAFs is the possibility of repeat late night fog at KCGI. Confidence is not great, but threw in prevailing MVFR with BCFG just to be safe. Otherwise, there will be a layer or two of clouds within the 5-10kft layer with some ceilings possible mainly overnight into the morning at KEVV and KOWB.
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.PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...None. MO...None. IN...None. KY...None.
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DISCUSSION...DRS AVIATION...DRS
NWS PAH Office Area Forecast Discussion