NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/
The sky will begin mostly cloudy over central and southern areas this morning while partial clearing pushes into the north beneath high pressure building down from Eastern Canada. As the high continues to build down, the north will become mostly clear today with partial clearing further south. Coastal areas may remain mostly cloudy under the influence of low pressure well off the coast. Today will be cooler than recent days with highs only near 70 as cooler drier air pushes down from Canada.

Tonight will be clear to partly cloudy and cooler over the north with lows in the low to mid 40s. Southern areas will be mostly cloudy near the northern edge of the offshore storm.
Lows over the south will be in the mid 50s.

SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY/
The blocking pattern that has prevailed across the FA ovr the past week will be undergoing some evolution, with the cntr of the upper high retreating further N ovr Can msly across Nrn QB and Labrador. This allows low pres both at the sfc and alf to reside ovr the open Atlc between Cape Cod and S of NS prov thru Sat, with the most cldnss ovr the S hlf of the FA and sct shwrs from the offshore rn shield perhaps grazing the Downeast coast Sat Morn.

By Sat Eve, both the sfc and upper low will move further SE of NS prov as sfc high pres from QB builds swrd, at least taking any rn chcs swrd from the Downeast coast. Sky condition, however, will remain uncertain, with NE llvl winds making it uncertain how well the air below the subsidence invsn drys out, meaning that there could be areas of thin SC cldnss. Temps will slowly trend from abv normal closer to seasonal norms durg this tm.

Outside of some patchy SC cldnss at tms, Sun and Mon look to be fair and cooler, even a little below seasonal norms as sfc Can high pres ridges swrd. Ordinarily, we would have to be concerned about frost potential late Sun Ngt across Nrn vlys with the sfc high directly ovr the FA after a cool prev day high temps, but low dwpts and clrg from SC cld cvr are both uncertain, so fcst lows ovr the N remain sig abv frzg with little frost potential attm.

LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/
Mon Ngt at this tm does not look as cool as Sun Ngt as the llvl core of the air mass moderates and llvl winds begin to return from the S. Tue also looks fair with blended long range models bringing increasing cldnss later Tue Ngt into Wed as llvl winds increase from the S and SE to what could be the beginning of the breakdown of the Ern Can-New Eng blocking pattern. Blended long range guidance is in better agreement in holding off on any PoPs abv slgt chc lvl until at least Wed Ngt, with PoPs now well in the chc range for Thu as a low pres sys from the Midwest apchs, perhaps bringing the first sig rnfl for our Rgn in a couple of weeks.

AVIATION /04Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/
NEAR TERM: VFR conditions are expected across the north today and tonight. Southern areas will begin IFR to MVFR early this morning then improve to VFR by mid morning. VFR conditions are expected this afternoon into tonight. Light NE winds inland today and tonight with a moderate NE wind along the coast.

SHORT TO LONG TERM: Sat - Sun Morn...all TAF sites msly VFR with ocnl MVFR - low VFR clgs. Lgt to mdt ENE to NE winds, with strongest winds at KBHB Sat.

Sun Aftn - Tue...all TAF sites low VFR clgs to unlmtd VFR with Lgt and vrbl winds becmg S on Tue.

MARINE
NEAR TERM: A SCA will be up for the offshore waters today and tonight for east northeast winds gusting up to 30 kt. Winds will gradually diminish tonight but some gusts to 25 kt will still be possible over the offshore waters. Vsby will improve as cooler and drier air push down from the north.

SHORT TO LONG TERM: SCA ENE wind gusts and accompanying seas xpcted to cont thru Sat ovr the outer MZs and contg possibly into Sun s sfc low pres ovr the open Atlc E of Cape Cod slowly drifts SE. By later Sun into Sun Ngt, the pres grad ovr the outer waters should weaken enough as the low conts to move somewhat away for winds and seas to subside below SCA thresholds and this should cont Mon into Tue. Kept close to blended wv model guidance for fcst wv hts with wvs having two components; a short fetch pd of 2 - 4 sec and an open swell pd of 9 - 11 sec.

TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING
High astronomical tides combined with a modest storm surge from low pressure to the south will lead to minor tidal flooding at the high tides around 1 PM Friday and 1PM Saturday. The southernmost east facing islands and peninsulas will be most subject to erosion, but most areas will see little wave action due to the east-northeasterly wind direction relative to the coastline. Areas further south along the Maine coast into southern New England will have a greater coastal flooding threat with more onshore flow.

CAR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
ME...None.
MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 8 AM EDT Saturday for ANZ050-051.