548  
FXUS02 KWBC 132040  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
440 PM EDT WED SEP 13 2023  
 
VALID 12Z SAT SEP 16 2023 - 12Z WED SEP 20 2023  
 
...HURRICANE LEE LIKELY TO BRING RAIN AND STRONG WINDS TO NEW  
ENGLAND...  
   
..OVERVIEW
 
 
LATEST SOLUTIONS CONTINUE TO SHOW TYPICAL SPREAD AND RUN-TO-RUN  
VARIABILITY FOR HURRICANE LEE, SLOWLY NARROWING IN ON A TRACK THAT  
SHOULD REACH SOMEWHERE BETWEEN EASTERN MAINE AND NOVA SCOTIA BY  
LATE SATURDAY. BY THAT TIME THE 03Z NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER  
ADVISORY SHOWS LEE TRANSITIONING TO EXTRATROPICAL STATUS NEAR THE  
FAR WESTERN COAST OF NOVA SCOTIA. THIS TRACK WOULD BRING STRONG  
WINDS TO NEW ENGLAND AND SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL TO MAINE. BEHIND  
LEE, AN UPPER TROUGH AMPLIFYING INTO THE EASTERN U.S. DURING  
SATURDAY-MONDAY SHOULD WEAKEN TOWARD MIDWEEK. THE FRONT  
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS TROUGH MAY PRODUCE SOME AREAS OF RAIN WITH  
VARYING INTENSITY DURING THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. A  
PERSISTENT WAVY FRONT SHOULD MAINTAIN A WET PATTERN OVER THE  
FLORIDA PENINSULA FOR MOST OF THE PERIOD WHILE TEXAS AND THE GULF  
COAST WILL LIKELY TREND DRIER AFTER THE WEEKEND. MEANWHILE THE  
GUIDANCE IS ADVERTISING A SIGNIFICANT PATTERN CHANGE OVER THE  
WESTERN U.S. DURING THE PERIOD, AS A STRONG UPPER RIDGE OVER THE  
REGION AS OF SATURDAY WEAKENS AND GIVES WAY TO AN AMPLIFYING  
TROUGH THAT MAY ALSO INCORPORATE A WEAK UPPER LOW NEARING  
CALIFORNIA. THIS TROUGH AND LEADING COLD FRONT MAY BRING SOME  
MOISTURE INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND NORTHERN ROCKIES NEXT  
WEEK. ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND  
NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS THIS WEEKEND WILL THEN SHIFT OVER MORE OF THE  
NORTHERN PLAINS WHILE MUCH OF THE WEST SEES A PRONOUNCED COOLING  
TREND.  
 
   
..GUIDANCE EVALUATION/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
REGARDING HURRICANE LEE, THE OVERNIGHT 00Z OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE IS  
A BIT FARTHER EAST THAN PREVIOUS RUNS. THE 06Z GFS/GEFS SUITE  
CONTINUES TO BE FASTER THAN THE REST OF THE 00Z MODELS. ALL OF THE  
ENSEMBLE MEANS SUGGEST A BIT OF UNCERTAINTY AROUND THE TIMING OF  
LEE'S ARRIVAL WITH SOME MEMBERS IMPLYING A FASTER TRACK. ODDLY  
ENOUGH, THE ENSEMBLE MEANS WERE WETTER THAN THE DETERMINISTIC  
GUIDANCE ON DAY 4 OVER NEW ENGLAND. A GENERAL MODEL BLEND, WITH  
LESS WEIGHTING FOR THE GFS SUITE, WAS UTILIZED DURING THE MEDIUM  
RANGE PERIOD. MORE WEIGHTING WAS PUT ON THE 00Z EC ON DAYS 3-5,  
THEN AN EVEN DISBURSEMENT BETWEEN THE DETERMINISTIC AND ENSEMBLE  
GUIDANCE ON DAY 6, FOLLOWED BY AN ENSEMBLE MEAN FOCUSED BLEND ON  
DAY 7. THE NEW 12Z DETERMINISTIC GUIDANCE CONTINUES THE EASTWARD  
TREND IN LEE'S TRACK. THE 06Z GEFS AND 00Z CMCE WERE A BIT FASTER  
THAN THE 12Z GEFS AND 00Z ECE WITH RESPECT TO THE AMPLIFYING  
TROUGH OVER THE WEST.  
 
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
THE DAY 4 EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOK COVERING THE  
SATURDAY-SATURDAY NIGHT PERIOD DEPICTS A SLIGHT RISK AREA OVER  
APPROXIMATELY THE EASTERN HALF OF MAINE ALONG WITH A BAND OF  
MARGINAL RISK TO THE WEST, REFLECTING THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY  
RAINFALL IN ASSOCIATION WITH LEE. SOIL CONDITIONS IN MAINE ARE ON  
THE WETTER SIDE OF NORMAL OVER MOST AREAS (NEAR AVERAGE OVER PARTS  
OF THE SOUTH), SO EXPECT SOME SENSITIVITY TO HEAVY RAINFALL.  
CONTINUE TO MONITOR NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER PRODUCTS REGARDING  
THE TRACK OF HURRICANE LEE AND POTENTIAL EFFECTS ON NEW ENGLAND  
AND THE CANADIAN MARITIMES BY LATE WEEK AND THE WEEKEND. THE DAY  
4 OUTLOOK CONTINUES TO BE CLEAR OF ANY OTHER RISK AREAS DUE TO  
UNCERTAINTY IN RAINFALL AMOUNTS/RATES, BUT WITH ONGOING REGIONS OF  
INTEREST. THESE INCLUDE SOUTHERN TEXAS AND THE GULF COAST (SOME  
LINGERING MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY BUT INCONSISTENT GUIDANCE  
SIGNALS FOR RAINFALL) ALONG WITH THE TENNESSEE VALLEY AND  
SURROUNDING AREAS (WIDE RANGE OF GUIDANCE QPFS AND MIXED SIGNALS  
FOR MOISTURE ANOMALIES OVER THE REGION), PLUS THE FLORIDA  
PENINSULA WHERE A WAVY FRONT WILL BE DRAPED ACROSS THE AREA SHOULD  
PROMOTE A WET PATTERN (BUT WITH DRIER THAN AVERAGE SOIL CONDITIONS  
TO START WITH AND WIDE GUIDANCE SPREAD FOR QPF). NO RISK AREAS  
ARE INDICATED ON THE DAY 5 ERO (SUNDAY-SUNDAY NIGHT) BUT WILL  
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE FLORIDA PENINSULA AND PERHAPS THE SOUTHERN  
APPALACHIANS AS A COLD FRONT REACHES THE AREA.  
 
EXPECT THE FLORIDA PENINSULA TO REMAIN IN A FAIRLY WET PATTERN  
BEYOND SUNDAY AS THE WAVY FRONT PERSISTS OVER THE AREA, BUT WITH  
NO CLEAR SIGNAL YET FOR ORGANIZED HEAVY RAINFALL. RECENT TRENDS  
FOR A DEEPER UPPER TROUGH TO REACH THE WEST NEXT WEEK HAVE RAISED  
THE POTENTIAL PRECIPITATION TOTALS, WITH BEST EMPHASIS MOST LIKELY  
TO BE FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. SOME  
HIGH ELEVATIONS IN THE ROCKIES COULD SEE SOME SNOW IF THE UPPER  
TROUGH IS DEEP ENOUGH. AHEAD OF THIS TROUGH, AREAS OF RAIN COULD  
DEVELOP OVER PARTS OF THE PLAINS BY AROUND THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.  
 
EXPECT AN AREA OF HIGH TEMPERATURES AT LEAST 10-15F ABOVE NORMAL  
OVER THE NORTHWEST U.S./NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS DURING THE WEEKEND,  
WITH A BROADER AREA OF ABOVE NORMAL LOWS OVER THE WEST. THEN AN  
UPPER TROUGH AMPLIFYING INTO THE WEST SHOULD BRING A PRONOUNCED  
COOLER TREND WITH MUCH OF THE WESTERN U.S. SEEING HIGHS OF 5-15F  
BELOW NORMAL BY NEXT TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY, WHILE THE INITIAL WARMTH  
EVENTUALLY MODERATES BY MIDWEEK AS IT PROGRESSES ACROSS THE  
NORTHERN PLAINS. THE SOUTH-CENTRAL PLAINS WILL START OUT THE  
WEEKEND WITH HIGHS SEVERAL DEGREES BELOW NORMAL FOLLOWED BY A  
WARMING TREND OVER MUCH OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. THE EAST SHOULD  
SEE NEAR TO SOMEWHAT BELOW NORMAL HIGHS FROM THE WEEKEND INTO  
EARLY NEXT WEEK AND THEN NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES BY THE MIDDLE OF  
NEXT WEEK.  
 
KEBEDE/RAUSCH  
 
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  
 
HAZARDS:  
- HEAVY RAIN ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE NORTHEAST, SAT, SEP 16.  
- FLOODING OCCURRING OR IMMINENT ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHEAST.  
- HAZARDOUS HEAT ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS, SAT, SEP  
16.  
- HIGH WINDS ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE NORTHEAST, SAT-SUN, SEP 16-SEP  
17.  
- HIGH SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHTS FOR COASTAL PORTIONS OF THE  
NORTHEAST, SAT, SEP 16.  
 
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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