164  
FXUS02 KWBC 261916  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
300 PM EDT SAT AUG 26 2023  
 
VALID 12Z TUE AUG 29 2023 - 12Z SAT SEP 02 2023  
 
...A TROPICAL SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO IMPACT PORTIONS OF THE  
SOUTHEASTERN U.S. WITH HEAVY RAIN LIKELY FROM FLORIDA PANHANDLE  
NORTHEASTWARD THROUGH MIDWEEK NEXT WEEK...  
 
   
..OVERVIEW
 
 
A TROPICAL DISTURBANCE CURRENTLY OVER THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN  
SEA IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP INTO A TROPICAL CYCLONE PER THE  
NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AS THE SYSTEM TRACKS NORTHWARD THROUGH  
THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO AND INTO FLORIDA AROUND MIDWEEK, LIKELY  
WITH A TURN NORTHEASTWARD INTO THE WESTERN ATLANTIC THEREAFTER  
WITH HEAVY RAIN SPREADING INTO COASTAL GEORGIA AND THE CAROLINAS.  
HOWEVER, THERE CONTINUES TO BE A FAIR AMOUNT OF SPREAD IN MODEL  
GUIDANCE WITH THIS SYSTEM'S TRACK, SO NOTABLE CHANGES TO THE  
FORECAST COULD OCCUR. ELSEWHERE, AN UPPER LOW COULD SPREAD LOCALLY  
HEAVY RAINFALL INTO THE NORTHWEST TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY, WHILE THE  
NEXT SURGE OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE APPEARS TO MOVE UP ACROSS THE  
DESERT SOUTHWEST INTO THE FOUR CORNERS STATES LATE NEXT WEEK.  
COOLER WEATHER IS LIKELY ACROSS MUCH OF THE COUNTRY AT LEAST  
COMPARED TO THE PAST WEEK, BUT TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO  
REBOUND TO ABOVE NORMAL IN THE CENTRAL U.S. ESPECIALLY BY THE  
LATTER PART OF NEXT WEEK.  
 
   
..GUIDANCE EVALUATION/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
MODEL GUIDANCE IS GENERALLY IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE  
SYNOPTIC-SCALE FLOW ESPECIALLY EARLY IN THE PERIOD, FEATURING AN  
UPPER TROUGH DIGGING INTO THE GREAT LAKES TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY BEFORE  
LIFTING AND RETREATING INTO THE CANADIAN MARITIMES LATE WEEK, AS  
WELL AS AN UPPER LOW MOVING EASTWARD ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST  
INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS THROUGH THE MEDIUM-RANGE PERIOD. MODEL  
GUIDANCE WAS WITHIN REASON FOR THESE FEATURES, WITH A MULTI-MODEL  
DETERMINISTIC BLEND WORKING FINE. BY NEXT WEEKEND, THE  
DETERMINISTIC GUIDANCE BEGINS TO DIVERGE NEAR THE WEST COAST WHERE  
AN UPPER TROUGH COULD DEVELOP INTO A CLOSED LOW. THE ENSEMBLE  
MEANS APPEAR MUCH MORE AGREEABLE WITH THIS FEATURE. THUS, A LARGE  
PORTION OF TODAY'S DAY 7 WPC FORECASTS WAS BASED ON A COMPOSITE  
BLEND OF THE 06Z GEFS, 00Z EC MEAN, AND THE 00Z CMC MEAN.  
 
THE LARGEST UNCERTAINTY CONTINUES TO BE RELATED TO WHAT COMES OUT  
OF THE TROPICAL SYSTEM THAT IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP OVER THE  
EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO EARLY NEXT WEEK. SINCE YESTERDAY, THE GFS  
HAS BEEN OFFERING AN ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO, TAKING THIS SYSTEM ON A  
MORE NORTHERLY TRACK INTO THE INTERIOR SOUTHEASTERN U.S. VERSES A  
TRACK TOWARD THE NORTHEAST ACROSS NORTHERN FLORIDA AND JUST OF THE  
CAROLINA COASTS AS DEPICTED BY THE ECMWF. HOWEVER, RECENT ECMWF  
RUNS, AS WELL AS RUNS FROM THE CMC AND ICON, HAVE SHOWN A WESTWARD  
TREND IN THE FORECAST TRACK OF THIS SYSTEM OVER THE EASTERN GULF  
OF MEXICO, WHICH IS IN CLOSER AGREEMENT WITH THE GFS SCENARIO.  
THEREAFTER, THE ECMWF CONTINUES TO TAKE THE SYSTEM ON A MORE  
NORTHEASTERLY COURSE TOWARD THE CAROLINA COASTS VERSES THE SLOWER  
AND MORE INLAND TRACK DEPICTED BY THE GFS. IT APPEARS THAT MODELS  
CONTINUE TO HAVE SOME DISAGREEMENT ON HOW TO JUGGLE BETWEEN AN  
UPPER LOW CURRENTLY NEAR THE CENTRAL GULF COAST, THE LIFTING EAST  
COAST TROUGH, AND THEIR MUTUAL INTERACTION WITH THE TROPICAL  
SYSTEM. THE WPC MEDIUM-RANGE FORECAST PACKAGE FOR DAYS 3 - 5 WAS  
BASED ON A COMPOSITE BLEND OF 40% FROM THE 00Z ECMWF/EC MEAN, 40%  
FROM THE 06Z GFS/GEFS, 20% FROM THE 00Z CMC/CMC MEAN. THIS BLEND  
YIELDED A FORECAST TRACK FOR THE TROPICAL SYSTEM SLIGHTLY MORE TO  
THE WEST ACROSS THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO THAN IN PREVIOUS  
FORECASTS, FOLLOWED BY A SIMILAR FORECAST TRACK NEAR THE CAROLINA  
COASTS THEREAFTER. FORECASTS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE COUNTRY ARE  
SIMILAR TO WPC CONTINUITY.  
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
THE TROPICAL CYCLONE THAT IS LIKELY TO FORM IS FORECAST TO MOVE  
THROUGH THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO AND INTO FLORIDA  
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY, WITH THE MOST LIKELY TRACK OF THE SYSTEM  
NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS FLORIDA AND INTO THE WESTERN ATLANTIC BY  
THURSDAY NEAR THE GEORGIA/CAROLINA COAST. SLIGHT RISKS OF  
EXCESSIVE RAINFALL ARE IN PLACE FOR THESE AREAS FOR THE DAYS 4-5  
EROS AS A STARTING POINT. THE FORWARD SPEED OF THE SYSTEM  
HOPEFULLY WILL PUT SOME LIMIT ON THE FLASH FLOOD POTENTIAL, BUT  
REGARDLESS THE HEAVY TROPICAL RAINFALL WITH HIGH RAIN RATES COULD  
CAUSE FLASH FLOODING EVEN IF THE SYSTEM IS MOVING QUICKLY. IN  
ADDITION, TROPICAL DOWNPOURS FROM THE OUTSKIRT OF THE SYSTEM MAY  
POSE SOME FLASH FLOODING THREAT. THESE ARE CERTAINLY SUBJECT TO  
CHANGE AS FORECASTS FOR THE TROPICAL SYSTEM ARE REFINED. A COLD  
FRONT LOCATED WEST OF THE TROPICAL LOW COULD HELP ELONGATE THE  
FOOTPRINT OF THE HEAVY RAINFALL.  
 
FARTHER NORTH INTO THE MID-ATLANTIC AND NORTHEAST, SOME RAIN AND  
STORMS ARE POSSIBLE TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY WITH A COUPLE OF FRONTAL  
SYSTEMS, BEFORE A SURFACE HIGH SNEAKS IN FOR A DRYING TREND.  
FRONTS ACROSS THE GULF COAST WILL PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR MOISTURE TO  
POOL, AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY THERE THROUGH MUCH OF  
THE WEEK.  
 
IN THE NORTHWEST, THE STRONG UPPER LOW COMING THROUGH ON  
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY WILL PROVIDE GOOD FORCING FOR RAINFALL THERE.  
THERE DOES LOOK TO BE SOME INSTABILITY IN PLACE, SO LOCALIZED RAIN  
AMOUNTS/RATES MAY BE HIGH ENOUGH TO CAUSE A FEW INSTANCES OF FLASH  
FLOODING, WHILE RAIN TOTALS ARE LIKELY TO EXCEED AT LEAST LOW (1  
YEAR) AVERAGE RECURRENCE INTERVALS. MARGINAL RISKS ARE IN PLACE IN  
THE EROS WITH THIS ACTIVITY. AFTER A RELATIVE LULL IN THE MONSOON  
AROUND MIDWEEK, INCREASING CONVECTION APPEARS LIKELY BY LATE WEEK  
INTO ARIZONA AND THE SURROUNDING STATES.  
 
FINALLY SOME RELIEF OF THE HEAT IS IN STORE FOR THE GULF COAST  
REGION BY TUESDAY AS CONSIDERABLY LOWER HEAT INDICES ARE FORECAST  
AS A FRONT OR TWO COME THROUGH. THE DESERT SOUTHWEST COULD SEE  
ANOTHER HOT DAY ON TUESDAY THOUGH, WITH HIGHS IN THE 110S, WHICH  
SHOULD ABATE SOME BY WEDNESDAY AND BEYOND. MULTIPLE FRONTS  
CROSSING THE EAST WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES SOMEWHAT COOLER THAN  
AVERAGE FOR MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. THE SAME WILL BE TRUE FOR THE  
NORTHWEST WITH THE UPPER LOW OVERHEAD. THE CENTRAL U.S. WILL  
LIKELY START OFF SOMEWHAT COOLER THAN AVERAGE BUT WITH A WARMING  
TREND IN STORE THROUGH THE WEEK. TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO RISE  
INTO THE 90S INTO THE NORTH-CENTRAL PLAINS AND MIDWEST, AROUND  
10-15 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE.  
 
KONG/TATE  
 
ADDITIONAL 3-7 DAY HAZARD INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND ON THE WPC  
MEDIUM RANGE HAZARDS OUTLOOK CHART AT:  
HTTPS://WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/THREATS/THREATS.PHP  
 
WPC MEDIUM RANGE 500MB HEIGHTS, SURFACE SYSTEMS, WEATHER GRIDS,  
QUANTITATIVE PRECIPITATION FORECAST, EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOK,  
WINTER WEATHER OUTLOOK PROBABILITIES, HEAT INDICES AND KEY  
MESSAGES ARE AT:  
 
HTTPS://WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/MEDR/5DAYFCST500_WBG.GIF  
HTTPS://WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/MEDR/5DAYFCST_WBG_CONUS.GIF  
HTTPS://WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/5KM_GRIDS/5KM_GRIDSBODY.HTML  
HTTPS://WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/QPF/DAY4-7.SHTML  
HTTPS://WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/#PAGE=ERO  
HTTPS://WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/WWD/PWPF_D47/PWPF_MEDR.PHP?DAY=4  
HTTPS://WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/HEAT_INDEX.SHTML  
HTTPS://WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/#PAGE=OVW  
 

 
 

 
 
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