Marine Weather and Tide Forecast for Winterport, ME

KEY MESSAGES
1) An occluded front will bring rain on Sunday. Rain may end as a brief period of snow Sunday night followed by temperatures dropping below freezing which produce some icy surfaces early Monday morning.

2) Cooler and mostly dry week ahead with no significant systems expected.

DISCUSSION
KEY MESSAGE 1...An occluded front will bring rain on Sunday.
Rain may end as a brief period of snow Sunday night followed by temperatures dropping below freezing which produce some icy surfaces early Monday morning.

KEY MESSAGE 1 DESCRIPTION...
A cold front pushing in from the west will spread rain into the area Sunday morning. The rain will continue into early Sunday evening and change to a brief period of light snow or snow showers as colder air presses in from the west Sunday evening.
Total rain amounts of a half to three quarters of an inch are expected across the area. The ground across the north is still primarily frozen which will prevent the rain from absorbing into the soil resulting in most of the rain running off. This could cause ponding in low lying areas, issues with block culverts and rises of small creeks/streams.

As the boundary layer cools to near freezing precipitation will change from rain to snow across Northern Maine especially in the North Woods to St. John Valley first then eventually reaching as far south as Moosehead Region, Baxter SP region and Southern Aroostook County. The uncertainty lies in how much precipitation will be available behind FROPA and how quick the cold air works into the region. Overall expect a light accumulation of snow Sunday night which may coat the roads and produce icy surfaces as temperatures fall into the 20s across the north. For the Bangor Region into interior Downeast wet roadways and cooling temperatures to below freezing may result in some icy and slippery untreated surfaces early Monday morning. Road conditions should improve by quickly after sunrise on Monday in response to the April sunshine. However, Monday will remain brisk and chilly with highs only in the 30s north to the 40s south.

KEY MESSAGE 2...Cooler and mostly dry week ahead with no significant systems expected.

KEY MESSAGE 2 DESCRIPTION...
The overall long wave pattern across the Northeast this week features a 500mb trof through the first half of the week and surface high pressure to our west. Eventually high pressure settles south of the region into late week as the flow aloft turns zonal with 500mb ridging developing over the Deep South.
After conditions dry Monday on Tuesday will be a much drier day with afternoon minimum RHs down into the 25-30 percent range under mostly sunny skies. Thankfully winds will be light so overall fire weather concerns are low. Temperatures through midweek in the 40s during the day and 20s to around 32F at night. On Wednesday a weak system passes through the area with some rain or snow showers. Later in the week as the flow turns more zonal and that ridge strengthens over the Eastern US expect temperatures to return to near normal.

AVIATION /04Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/

Today...VFR. SE wind increasing to 10 to 15 kt over the north and 5 to 10 kt across the south.

Tonight.. MVFR lowering to IFR across the south. VFR lowering to MVFR in the late evening then IFR after midnight across the north. Winds S around 10 kt across the north and 5 kt over the south.

Sunday...IFR to LIFR at times in low clouds and rain. winds S 5 to 10 kt across the area.

Sunday night.. MVFR/IFR. Rain changing to snow north.
Rain Downeast. Northwest winds 10 to 15 knots.

Monday...Improving to VFR, with MVFR possible in snow showers in the north. Winds W/NW at 10 kt, gusting to 20 kt.

Monday night and Tuesday...VFR. Northwest/north winds 5 to 10 knots Monday night. South wind 5 to 10 knots Tuesday.

Wednesday...W/NW winds at 5-10 kt, gusting 15-20 kt.

MARINE

Wind should remain below SCA today, tonight and Sunday. Seas will be up to 3 ft today, 4 to 5 ft tonight, and 4 ft on Sunday. Some fog will likely limit vsby late tonight into Sunday along with rain and drizzle on Sunday. Sunday night NW winds will gust 25-30kt across the coastal waters 25-60nm offshore and may approach SCA criteria out 20-25nm offshore. Will need to monitor for potential SCA on those coastal waters out to 25nm. Otherwise not expecting winds/seas reaching SCA conditions for the rest of the week.

CAR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
ME...None.
MARINE...None.