FXUS61 KCAR 240604 AFDCAR Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Caribou ME 204 AM EDT Mon Aug 24 2026 .WHAT HAS CHANGED... - Expanded Dense Fog Advisory to include Central and Southern Washington and coastal Hancock counties. - Increased precip/thunder chances for North Woods Monday. && .KEY MESSAGES... 1) Areas of dense fog into the morning, and possibly again Monday night. Fog will impact travel conditions. 2) Chance of showers through Monday afternoon, with possibly some thunderstorms in Northern Maine Monday afternoon. 3) Chance of showers and thunderstorms north of Bangor Tuesday and mainly across northern Aroostook Wednesday. 4) Thunderstorms are possible Friday afternoon and evening, some of which may be on the locally strong side with gusty winds and small hail. && .DISCUSSION... KEY MESSAGE 1...Areas of dense fog into the morning, and possibly again Monday night. Fog will impact travel conditions. KEY MESSAGE 1 DESCRIPTION... Fog is the main concern. Areas of fog and low clouds are moving through the area, especially along the coast. The best chance of the dense fog is near the Downeast coast, but can't rule out significant fog further inland too. The fog should generally dissipate during the day Monday, but fog appears likely again Monday night. There may be a slightly later onset to the fog in the evening Monday, but still think the fog could be locally dense by later Monday night. A Dense Fog Advisory is in effect until 9 AM Monday for Southern and Central Washington as well as coastal Hancock counties. KEY MESSAGE 2...Chance of showers through Monday afternoon, with possibly some thunderstorms in Northern Maine Monday afternoon. KEY MESSAGE 2 DESCRIPTION... Areas of drizzle moving from south to north along with the fog and low clouds overnight. Some drying expected into Monday morning, but with a bit of clearing, expect enough instability for showers and storms to fire off by about midday in north and west areas. Scattered showers/storms are expected, with the best chance being inland away from the more stable marine layer. That said, even in the wetter north, only going with a 40-60 percent chance of showers/storms, best chance in the western North Woods along the Quebec border. Monday will not be a rainout by any means. Cannot rule out a couple of the storms being on the stronger side with gusty winds, and there is some uncertainty how many storms can fire in the first place. Bangor and Downeast should remain dry, save for a shower or two. KEY MESSAGE 3...Chance of showers and thunderstorms north of Bangor Tuesday and mainly across northern Aroostook Wednesday. KEY MESSAGE 3 DESCRIPTION... The axis of an upper level closed low that is gradually weakening as it passes to the north, then northeast Tuesday- Wednesday, should bring with it sufficient instability in the low-mid levels with its associated cold-pool aloft, that it should produce scattered showers in areas north of Bangor on Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon, low to mid level lapse rates should be around 8C/km, with a few hundred J/kg of CAPE and around 35-45 kt of bulk shear. This should produce some strong storms across the region north of Bangor. Wet bulb zero heights are around 7500-8500 ft away from the coast so the greatest risk would be small hail. On Wednesday, as the upper low weakens and retreats to the northeast, the threat will be limited to the North, with low level lapse rates around 7.5-8 C/km, around 500-1000 J/kg of CAPE and around 20-30 kt of shear. Once again strong storms are possible with mainly isolated storms across northern Aroostook. The wetbulb zero height is a little higher at 8500-9000 J/kg, but still low enough to support hail. With the stronger CAPE, the main threat is both strong winds and small hail in the strongest convection across the North on Wednesday. KEY MESSAGE 4...Thunderstorms are possible Friday afternoon and evening, some of which may be on the locally strong side with gusty winds and small hail. KEY MESSAGE 4 DESCRIPTION... A cold front crosses the area Friday afternoon and evening on the leading edge of a full latitude trough pushing into the region, with the added support of a northern stream shortwave pushing through the trough around that time. With the potential for 500-1500 J/kg of CAPE and 25-35KT of bulk shear, there is a risk of some locally strong thunderstorms ahead of the front, with the main threat strong gusty winds. && .AVIATION /06Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... Through 12z This Morning...Mainly IFR/LIFR conditions with brief periods of VLIFR. BR/FG and low cigs. Winds generally S and less than 5kt. VCSH possible. Today...IFR/LIFR becoming MVFR mid morning then VFR by midday. Might take longer to VFR at BHB. VCSH/-SHRA mainly for afternoon at northern terms. Low confidence -SHRA at BGR. PROB30 for northern terms (FVE,CAR,PQI and HUL) for -TSRA this afternoon. S winds 5-10kt with gusts up to 15kt. Tonight...VFR becoming MVFR/IFR cigs with BR/FG developing and possible LIFR/VLIFR vsby. Winds light and variable. Tuesday...Chance of IFR/LIFR early Tuesday AM at all terms in low cigs and/or FG. VFR mid morning into the afternoon. MVFR or lower possible in any stronger convection north of KBGR in the afternoon. SW winds 5-10kt, gusty winds in any storms possible. Tuesday night...VFR. Light and variable winds. Wednesday...VFR. Possible MVFR vsby due to -SHRA in the afternoon at KFVE/KCAR/KPQI. Wednesday night...VFR. Light and variable winds. Thursday...VFR. S winds 5-15kt with gusts up to 25kt. LLWS possible late afternoon. Thursday Night...VFR becoming MVFR/IFR with -SHRA developing. S winds 5-15kt. LLWS possible. Friday: MVFR/IFR in the early morning, then VFR mid morning, then MVFR or lower possible in any showers or thunderstorms in the afternoon. LLWS possible. S winds 5-15kt with higher gusts possible. && .MARINE... Fog over the waters through Monday night. S/SE winds 15 kts or less and seas 2-4 ft are forecast on all waters out to 60NM through Friday. There is a chance for dense fog on the waters Tuesday morning, reducing visibility to less than 1 nm. There is the chance for some thunderstorms over the waters late on Friday. && .CAR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ME...Dense Fog Advisory until 9 AM EDT this morning for MEZ017-029- 030. MARINE...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...JS/JMM AVIATION...JS/JMM