Area forecast discussion National Weather Service Gray ME 445 PM EDT Thursday may 23 2013 Synopsis... a cold front will slowly cross the region tonight will stall off the coast on Friday. Low pressure will develop on the front south of Cape Cod Friday night and slowly move north through the Gulf of Maine through Sunday morning. Low pressure will continue north through the Maritimes Sunday night. High pressure will build in from the west Monday and will shift offshore on Tuesday. A warm front will approach from the southwest on Wednesday. && Near term /until 6 am Friday morning/... update... have updated grids based on current conditions. Radar continues to show areas of showers and isolated thunderstorms over southern New Hampshire. The echoes are weakening somewhat as they head north into the foothills of Maine. Flood advis have been issued for much of this region...as precipitable water values remain high ahead and along a slow moving front. Will continue to monitor for possible ffws as echoes continue to train over the same areas from SW to NE. Previous disc... cold front approaching from the west will make for a wet and breezy night across the region. Scattered showers and some thunderstorms will gradually change to a widespread rain overnight as the front slowly crosses the area. Expect thunderstorm activity to be mainly confined to New Hampshire late this afternoon and this evening as marine layer persists across most of Maine. Can't rule out a rumble of thunder overnight but should be isolated and have not included this in the forecast after this evening. Expect overnight lows to be uniform across the region with most areas dipping into the middle 50s to near 60. && Short term /6 am Friday morning through Friday night/... front will stall just off the coast on Friday with rain continuing through the day across the forecast area. Not expecting temperatures to move much from overnight lows with most locations only reaching the upper 50s to lower 60s. Rain continues Friday night as low pressure tracks north along the front. Focus will turn to area rivers in northern zones where storm totals could will fall in the the 2 to 4 inch range by late on Sunday. && Long term /Saturday through Thursday/... cutoff and surface low will drift slowly NE through the weekend continuing prcp across the forecast area with the potential for heavy rainfall. Models showing maximum quantitative precipitation forecast across the north/Montana zones to western New Hampshire zones. GFS much higher on quantitative precipitation forecast...with other models preferred. Used HPC quantitative precipitation forecast for a compromise. Cutoff and surface lows move NE of the area Monday with improving weather...but still cool air and cyclonic flow aloft along with fairly ample relative humidity could produce some clouds and possible -shra even on Monday. For now will go with slight chance. An upper level and surface ridge build in Tuesday finally bringing dry weather with warming temperatures. An upper level short wave trough slides east through the upper level ridge late Wednesday and Wednesday night...bringing isolated to scattered rain showers to the region Wednesday night and Thursday. Generally used blend of gfs40/NAM, met/mav & HPC quantitative precipitation forecast for days 4 and 5 then a blend of gfs40, gmos, mex/ece for the rest of the long term forecast. && Aviation /21z Thursday through Tuesday/... short term...IFR/LIFR ceilings/visibility tonight through Friday. Long term /Saturday through Tuesday/...IFR/LIFR Saturday through much of Sunday...improving to VFR with possible MVFR on Monday then VFR Tuesday. && Marine... short term...Small Craft Advisory in effect through Friday tonight. Long term /Saturday through Tuesday/...NE winds ahead of approaching low and seas likely at Small Craft Advisory levels Saturday and may need to extend the Small Craft Advisory through the day. Winds let up and back to the northwest slowly Saturday night through Monday...likely dropping below Small Craft Advisory levels by late Saturday night or early Sunday. Seas will be slower to drop off. High pressure provides relatively calmer winds and seas on Tuesday. && Fire weather... no problems noted. && Gyx watches/warnings/advisories... ME...none. New Hampshire...none. Marine...Small Craft Advisory until 8 am EDT Saturday for anz150>154. && $$