915  
FXUS02 KWBC 020702  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
301 AM EDT MON OCT 02 2023  
 
VALID 12Z THU OCT 05 2023 - 12Z MON OCT 09 2023  
 
...HEAVY RAIN AND FLASH FLOODING THREAT COULD CONTINUE IN PARTS OF  
TEXAS THURSDAY, AND MAY RAMP UP IN THE NORTHEAST LATE WEEK...  
 
   
..OVERVIEW
 
 
AN AMPLIFIED UPPER TROUGH AND AN ASSOCIATED WAVY COLD FRONT WILL  
PUSH THROUGH THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN U.S. FOR THE LATTER PART OF  
THE WEEK, BRINGING RAIN CHANCES AHEAD AND BELOW AVERAGE  
TEMPERATURES BEHIND THEM. RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE  
PARTICULARLY HEAVY IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS INTO THURSDAY, WHILE BY  
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY MOISTURE COULD INCREASE IN THE NORTHEASTERN  
U.S. AHEAD OF THE FRONT AND POSSIBLY LEAD TO HEAVY RAIN. MEANWHILE  
AN UPPER RIDGE SHOULD OVERTAKE THE WESTERN U.S. FOR WARMER THAN  
AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND GENERALLY DRY CONDITIONS, UNTIL EARLY  
NEXT WEEK WHEN A TROUGH AND FRONTAL SYSTEM COULD PUSH INTO THE  
PACIFIC NORTHWEST.  
 
   
..GUIDANCE EVALUATION/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
MODEL GUIDANCE IS IN REASONABLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE LARGE  
SCALE PATTERN DESCRIBED ABOVE, BUT THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENCES IN  
THE DETAILS OF THE TROUGH AND THE TIMING OF IT MOVING EASTWARD  
THROUGH LATE WEEK. ONE ASPECT THAT VARIES AMONG GUIDANCE IS THE  
EXACT EVOLUTION OF THE TROUGH DEPENDENT ON UNCERTAIN ENERGIES  
WITHIN IT. RELATIVELY MINOR DIFFERENCES LIKE THE WIDTH OF THE  
TROUGH CAUSED BY SHORTWAVE POSITIONS AFFECT THE FRONTAL POSITIONS  
AND THE ASSOCIATED QPF. FOR EXAMPLE, THE 12Z ECMWF AND CMC HAD THE  
EASTERN EDGE OF THE TROUGH AND THUS THE FRONT/QPF FARTHER EAST  
THAN GFS RUNS BY FRIDAY-SUNDAY. BY THE WEEKEND THE DIFFERENCES  
AFFECT IF OR WHEN A CLOSED LOW MAY FORM WITHIN THE TROUGH, WHICH  
GFS RUNS HAVE STEADILY INDICATED. OVERALL THE INCOMING 00Z  
GUIDANCE SHOWS THE TROUGH'S TRACK ON THE SLOWER SIDE, AND DESPITE  
THERE BEING A CLOSED LOW OR NOT DEPENDING ON THE MODEL RUN, THERE  
LOOKS TO BE A NEGATIVELY TILTED TROUGH AND ROOM FOR MOISTURE TO  
TUCK IN JUST EAST OF IT. THE NEW 00Z ECMWF DOES EVENTUALLY FORM A  
CLOSED LOW BY EARLY NEXT WEEK.  
 
THE WPC FORECAST WAS BASED ON A DETERMINISTIC MODEL BLEND  
PARTICULARLY FAVORING THE 18Z GFS AND 12Z ECMWF EARLY IN THE  
PERIOD, TRANSITIONING TO INCORPORATE THE ENSEMBLE MEANS TO HALF BY  
DAY 6 AND OVER HALF DAY 7 AS MODEL SPREAD INCREASED. THIS BLEND  
ALSO WORKED WELL FOR THE UPPER RIDGE TO THE WEST OF THE TROUGH,  
AND FOR THE NEXT TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC THAT BECOMES A  
FACTOR IN THE FORECAST BY LATE WEEK. CONTINUITY FROM THE PREVIOUS  
FORECAST WAS REASONABLY WELL MAINTAINED, THOUGH WITH THE 00Z  
GUIDANCE LOOKING SLOWER WITH THE NORTHEASTERN TROUGH, THE NEXT  
SHIFT MAY TREND TOWARD THAT, WHICH WOULD LEAD TO SLOWER QPF  
MOVEMENT THROUGH THE NORTHEAST THIS WEEKEND.  
 
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
MOIST AND UNSTABLE INFLOW WILL MEET UP WITH THE COLD FRONT PUSHING  
THROUGH THE SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S. ON THURSDAY, WHICH ALONG WITH THE  
RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF THE JET PROVIDING AMPLE LIFT WILL LEAD TO  
A CONTINUED HEAVY RAIN THREAT MAINLY IN TEXAS. A SLIGHT RISK  
REMAINS IN PLACE IN THE DAY 4/THURSDAY EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOK  
FOR THIS CONVECTION THAT COULD PRODUCE HIGH RAIN RATES. THE FRONT  
SHOULD CONTINUE TO PUSH SOUTH WITH TIME AND LIMIT THE AREAL  
COVERAGE OF RAINFALL, BUT SOME MAY LINGER INTO SOUTH TEXAS LATE  
WEEK, AND A MARGINAL RISK IS DELINEATED THERE IN THE ERO FOR  
FRIDAY.  
 
FARTHER NORTH, THE COLD FRONT SHOULD TRACK THROUGH THE  
MIDWEST/UPPER GREAT LAKES AND THE OHIO VALLEY THURSDAY INTO  
FRIDAY. THERE IS A NONZERO THREAT OF EMBEDDED HEAVY RAIN WITH THIS  
ACTIVITY, BUT HOPEFULLY THE FRONTAL PROGRESSION WILL KEEP SHOWERS  
AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING QUICKLY ENOUGH NOT TO CAUSE FLASH  
FLOODING ISSUES. HOWEVER, THIS COULD CHANGE BY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY  
AS THE TILT/PLACEMENT OF THE TROUGH AND FRONT MAY ALLOW FOR  
ATLANTIC MOISTURE TO STREAM IN AND INCREASE HEAVY RAINFALL  
POTENTIAL AS THE FRONT GETS INTO THE NORTHERN  
MID-ATLANTIC/NORTHEAST. A MARGINAL RISK IS PLANNED FOR THE DAY  
5/FRIDAY ERO ACROSS THE LOWER GREAT LAKES REGION AND PARTS OF THE  
NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC AND NORTHEAST, AS DESPITE SOME LINGERING  
MODEL DISCREPANCIES HEAVY RAIN SEEMS LIKE A GOOD POSSIBILITY,  
WHICH COULD CAUSE FLOODING ISSUES ESPECIALLY IN AREAS WITH LOW  
FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE. HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING CONCERNS WILL LIKELY  
CONTINUE INTO SATURDAY FOR NEW ENGLAND.  
 
MUCH OF THE CONUS SHOULD DRY OUT BY SUNDAY WITH THE EXCEPTION OF  
SOME LAKE EFFECT RAIN SHOWERS IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION AND ANY  
MOISTURE LINGERING INTO MAINE, SOUTHERN TEXAS, AND FLORIDA. THE  
PACIFIC NORTHWEST THOUGH WILL LIKELY SEE A RAMP-UP IN  
PRECIPITATION CHANCES BY MONDAY AS A FRONT AND UPPER TROUGH  
APPROACH.  
 
THE AMPLIFIED TROUGH AND THE COLD FRONT WILL LEAD TO COOLER  
TEMPERATURES THAN AVERAGE, WHILE THE UPPER RIDGES TO THE EAST AND  
WEST SUPPORT ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. THE LOWER GREAT LAKES  
REGION INTO THE NORTHEAST SHOULD SEE WARMER THAN AVERAGE  
TEMPERATURES BY 10-20F ON THURSDAY, WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S TO  
LOW 80S. BUT AS THE UPPER TROUGH AND THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY  
COLD FRONTS MARCH EAST INTO THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK,  
TEMPERATURES WILL COOL TO BELOW AVERAGE ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND  
THEN EAST-CENTRAL U.S., EVENTUALLY MAKING THEIR WAY TO THE EASTERN  
SEABOARD BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE FIRST FROST OR FREEZE OF THE  
SEASON MAY OCCUR IN THE NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS BEHIND THE COLD  
FRONTS LATE THIS WEEK. IN THE EASTERN HALF OF THE U.S. LOWS WILL  
GENERALLY BE AROUND 5-10F BELOW AVERAGE WHILE HIGHS SHOULD BE MORE  
LIKE 10-15F BELOW AVERAGE, LOCALLY COOLER. MEANWHILE THE ARRIVAL  
OF AN UPPER RIDGE ACROSS THE WEST WILL FIRST RAISE TEMPERATURES  
ALONG THE WEST COAST TO 10-15F ABOVE AVERAGE, WITH SOME RECORD  
WARM LOWS POSSIBLE. THE SHIFT/EXPANSION OF THE RIDGE FARTHER EAST  
SHOULD LEAD TO WARMER THAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE  
NORTHERN ROCKIES INTO THE HIGH PLAINS EARLY NEXT WEEK.  
 
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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