FNUS71 KBUF 171757 FWSBUF SPOT FORECAST FOR CONTINENTAL 3407...NWS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY 1257 PM EST TUE FEB 17 2009 FORECAST IS BASED ON INCIDENT TIME OF 1244 EST ON FEBRUARY 17. IF CONDITIONS BECOME UNREPRESENTATIVE...CONTACT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. .DISCUSSION... HIGH PRESSURE WILL PROVIDE ONE MORE PLEASANT WINTER DAY TODAY... BEFORE A COMPLEX LOW PRESSURE AREA TRACKS FROM THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TO NEAR LAKE ONTARIO WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND ON TO NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND BY THURSDAY. THIS STORM WILL SPREAD A MIXED BAG OF PRECIPITATION ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEW YORK WITH AN INITIAL PERIOD OF SNOW WHICH SHOULD CHANGE TO RAIN WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AFTER ONLY A SMALL ACCUMULATION. THE RAIN WILL EVENTUALLY CHANGE BACK TO SNOW ON THURSDAY WITH SOME ACCUMULATION THURSDAY NIGHT. COLDER WEATHER WITH SNOW SHOWERS WILL THEN FOLLOW INTO THE UPCOMING WEEKEND. THERE IS SOME RISK OF A FEW INCHES OF SNOW SATURDAY AS ANOTHER LOW PASSES BY TO OUR SOUTH. WINDS COULD POSE A PROBLEM FOR ANY CRANE OPERATIONS WEDNESDAY ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE APPROACHING STORM SYSTEM. SOUTHERLY SURFACE TO 100 FOOT ABOVE GROUND LEVEL WINDS IN THE 15 TO 25 MPH RANGE DURING THE MORNING WILL LIKELY INCREASE TO 20 TO 30 MPH DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE POTENTIAL IS GREATER FOR THURSDAY WITH SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS AS HIGH AS 40 MPH AT THE 100 FOOT ABOVE GROUND LEVEL. .TONIGHT... SKY/WEATHER.........MOSTLY CLOUDY (70 PERCENT). A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW LATE. MIN TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 27. MAX HUMIDITY........74 PERCENT. 20 FOOT WIND........SOUTHEAST WINDS 7 TO 12 MPH. MIXING HEIGHT.......MIN 400 FT AGL. TRANSPORT WINDS.....SOUTH 6 TO 13 MPH. SMOKE DISPERSION....MIN 2 (POOR). TIME (EST) 6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10P 11P MID 1AM 2AM 3AM 4AM 5AM SKY (%).........59 59 62 68 71 66 57 52 59 72 79 84 WEATHER COV..... SCH WEATHER TYPE.... SN TEMP............32 31 30 28 27 27 27 28 28 29 29 29 RH..............54 57 61 65 69 70 70 71 71 71 71 72 20 FT WIND DIR..S SE SE SE SE SE SE SE SE SE SE SE 20 FT WIND SPD..7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 9 10 10 12 20 FT WIND GUST. 10 10 10 10 10 SMK DISPERSION..16 10 6 4 2 2 4 6 6 6 6 5 .WEDNESDAY... SKY/WEATHER.........CLOUDY (95 PERCENT). SNOW IN THE MORNING. RAIN. MAX TEMPERATURE.....AROUND 39. MIN HUMIDITY........70 PERCENT. 20 FOOT WIND........SOUTH WINDS 12 TO 16 MPH. MIXING HEIGHT.......MAX 1600 FT AGL. TRANSPORT WINDS.....SOUTHEAST 13 TO 20 MPH...BECOMING SOUTH 21 TO 26 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. SMOKE DISPERSION....MAX 37 (FAIR). TIME (EST) 6AM 7AM 8AM 9AM 10A 11A 12P 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM SKY (%).........94 99 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 WEATHER COV.....CHC LKY LKY LKY DEF DEF DEF DEF DEF DEF DEF DEF WEATHER TYPE....SN SN SN SN RN RN RN RN RN RN RN RN TEMP............29 30 31 32 34 35 36 37 37 37 37 37 RH..............74 73 72 71 71 70 70 70 71 72 74 76 20 FT WIND DIR..SE SE S S S S S S S S S S 20 FT WIND SPD..12 13 13 14 14 14 15 15 15 16 16 16 20 FT WIND GUST. 15 15 15 20 20 25 25 25 20 SMK DISPERSION..5 6 6 7 10 17 26 34 37 37 33 27 $$ FORECASTER...SFM REQUESTED BY...JUDY LEVAN TYPE OF REQUEST...HAZMAT .TAG 20090217.CONTI.05/BUF