709 FXUS61 KALY 202330 AFDALY Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Albany NY 730 PM EDT Mon Apr 20 2026 .WHAT HAS CHANGED... Leaned on the colder end of guidance for overnight low temperatures tonight as there is medium to high confidence that Tuesday A.M temperatures will drop below 30 degrees across much of eastern NY and western New England. Also, lowered RH values and increased wind gusts Thursday afternoon in collaboration with neighboring WFOs given increasing confidence for deep boundary layer mixing and a drier incoming air mass that may result in weather conditions that favor enhanced fire spread. && .KEY MESSAGES... 1) Below normal temperatures through tomorrow then there is a low to medium chance for weather conditions on Thursday that can favor enhanced fire spread. && .DISCUSSION... KEY MESSAGE 1...Isolated to widely scattered convectively driven showers continue this afternoon tracking from northwest to southeast as our upper trough and associated cold pool tracks overhead. With 850-700hPa lapse rates steepening to 7.5C/km or greater, any taller showers can produce brief periods of graupel. Given temperatures in the 30s in the hill towns and higher terrain areas today, any steadier showers can lead to wet-bulb cooling and mix or briefly change to wet snow. However, the brief nature of any snow showers plus the April sun angle will likely prevent any appreciable accumulations. Snow showers diminish towards sunset with the loss of daytime heating and strong subsidence building into the Northeast from the Ohio Valley. Ridging and high pressure tonight will support clearing skies and near ideal radiational cooling resulting in chilly temperatures. As discussed in the previous discussion, we leaned on the cooler end of guidance for overnight lows tonight given probabilistic guidance showing greater than 75% chance for overnight lows throughout much of eastern NY and western New England falling below 30 degrees. Despite last week's warm up, the growing season does not officially begin until May 1 in the Hudson Valley so frost/freeze products will not be issued. GFL and POU may tie or break their respective record lows for April 21 but Albany will likely be out of reach. See our climate section for details. Tuesday starts off quite chilly with morning sun mixing with increasing afternoon clouds as moisture spills overtop the ridge axis. While dew points will turn quite low supporting RH values dropping to 25 to 30%, winds will be rather low with gusts under 20kts so not expecting an increased risk of fire spread. Southwesterly return flow will allow temperatures to warm into the 40s to low 50s but this is still 5 to 10 degrees below normal for late April. A warm front then approaches from the southwest heading into tomorrow night. This front looks to get hung up around the I-84 corridor if not slightly south as high pressure remains parked off the New England coast and a weak low moves along the boundary. Weak warm air advection in the low and mid-levels should support a period of showers overnight focused south of I-90 closer to stronger forcing and moisture. Latest NBM probabilistic guidance for greater than 0.01" of precipitation Tues night remains rather low at only 20 to 25% and confined to areas mainly south of I-90 suggesting that incoming precipitation will be quite light. With dew points still near or below freezing Tues night, the incoming light showers could allow the column to cool in response to wet- bulbing supporting a rain/snow or even wet snow in the eastern Catskills, Taconics, NW CT and Berkshires where southwest flow can upslope the terrain. Even still, the light amounts will likely mitigate any impacts. Drier weather returns Thursday and Friday as an omega block develops upstream over the Great Lakes and dry, northwest flow persists. While temperatures finally trend warmer becoming more seasonably for spring, deep boundary layer mixing and a weak surface pressure gradient on Thursday should also support gusty winds and with RH values dropping under 40%. We will closely monitor winds and RH as weather conditions may favor enhanced fire spread. && .AVIATION /00Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Through 00z/Wed...VFR conditions will prevail at all TAF sites through the upcoming TAF period. High pressure building into the area will lead to decreasing clouds this evening with north to northwesterly winds 5-10 kt this evening becoming light to calm overnight. As the high pushes to the east, winds will become south to southwesterly at 5-10 kt on Tuesday along with some passing mid and high clouds. Outlook... Tuesday Night: Low Operational Impact. Slight Chance of SHRA...SHSN. Wednesday: Low Operational Impact. Slight Chance of SHRA. Wednesday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Thursday: Low Operational Impact. Breezy. NO SIG WX. Thursday Night: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Friday: No Operational Impact. NO SIG WX. Friday Night: Low Operational Impact. Slight Chance of SHRA. Saturday: Moderate Operational Impact. Chance of SHRA. && .CLIMATE... Record Low Temperatures for April 21: Glens Fall, NY: 20 degrees set in 1925 Albany, NY: 20 degrees set in 1875 Poughkeepsie, NY: 26 degrees set in 2018 && .ALY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...None. NY...None. MA...None. VT...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...31 AVIATION...33/23 CLIMATE...31