486 FXUS64 KMAF 150937 AFDMAF AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 437 AM CDT WED MAY 15 2013 .DISCUSSION... AFTER A FAIRLY STORMY EVENING LAST NIGHT ACROSS THE LOWER TRANS PECOS AND EASTERN PERMIAN BASIN...CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO DRY OUT AND HEAT UP AS WE HEAD TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK. SOME AREAS BETWEEN FT STOCKTON AND BIG LAKE PICKED UP OVER 3 INCHES OF MUCH NEEDED RAIN. STORMS WILL BE MORE ISOLATED THIS AFTERNOON...MAINLY ACROSS EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE PERMIAN BASIN AND LOWER TRANS PECOS...AS THE UPPER TROUGH CONTINUES TO PULL AWAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NOTICEABLY WARMER TODAY WITH HIGHS IN THE 90`S TO NEAR 100 IN A FEW SPOTS. UPPER LEVEL RIDGING WILL SETTLE IN ACROSS THE AREA LATE THIS WEEK HELPING BOOST TEMPERATURES TO THE HIGHEST LEVELS WE`VE SEEN SO FAR THIS YEAR. 850 MB TEMPS NEAR 30C SHOULD TRANSLATE TO HIGHS NEAR THE CENTURY MARK ACROSS MOST LOCATIONS...MINUS THE HIGHER TERRAIN...THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. SUBSIDENCE AND A STRONG CAP WILL KEEP THINGS QUIET IN THE PRECIP DEPARTMENT THROUGH THE END OF THE WORK WEEK. BY SATURDAY...THE UPPER RIDGE IS REPLACED BY A BROAD TROUGH STRETCHING ACROSS THE CENTER PART OF THE U.S. BOTH THE ECMWF AND GFS GENERATE STORMS ALONG THE DRYLINE SATURDAY EVENING AS THE TROUGH GETS CLOSE ENOUGH TO PROVIDE UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT. WILL KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE POPS GOING FOR EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE PERMIAN BASIN. WILL HAVE TO MONITOR FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF A FEW SEVERE STORMS AS SHEAR AND INSTABILITY INCREASES EAST OF THE DRYLINE. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WELL ABOVE SEASONAL VALUES UNTIL A COLD FRONT ARRIVES SOMETIME TUESDAY. FIRE WX... A DRYLINE PUSHING EAST WILL RESULT IN MINIMUM RH BELOW 15 PERCENT ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON. HOWEVER 20FT WINDS WILL GENERALLY BE BELOW 20 MPH EXCEPT FOR THE GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS AND TO A LESSER EXTENT THE DELAWARE MOUNTAINS OF CULBERSON COUNTY. THESE DRY AND WINDY CONDITIONS WILL COMBINE WITH VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER TO PRODUCE CRITICAL FIRE WX CONDITIONS ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS. WILL ISSUE A RED FLAG WARNING FOR THESE LOCATIONS THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY EVENING. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ANDREWS TX 94 65 99 64 / 10 10 0 0 BIG SPRING TX 94 64 99 64 / 20 20 0 10 CARLSBAD NM 95 61 100 61 / 10 10 0 0 DRYDEN TX 92 66 103 69 / 20 20 0 0 FORT STOCKTON TX 95 66 100 68 / 10 10 0 0 GUADALUPE PASS TX 87 65 91 65 / 10 10 0 0 HOBBS NM 92 61 97 60 / 10 10 0 0 MARFA TX 85 47 90 51 / 10 10 0 0 MIDLAND INTL AIRPORT TX 96 66 100 65 / 10 10 0 0 ODESSA TX 95 67 99 67 / 10 10 0 0 WINK TX 97 64 102 65 / 10 10 0 0 && .MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES... GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS NP/LINCOLN NF/LNZ. TX...RED FLAG WARNING FROM 1 PM CDT /NOON MDT/ THIS AFTERNOON TO 10 PM CDT /9 PM MDT/ THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES... GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS...VAN HORN AND HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR. && $$ 72/29