286  
FXUS02 KWBC 220701  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
200 AM EST WED NOV 22 2023  
 
VALID 12Z SAT NOV 25 2023 - 12Z WED NOV 29 2023  
   
..PATTERN OVERVIEW
 
 
EASTERN PACIFIC INTO NORTHWESTERN NORTH AMERICA UPPER RIDGING THAT  
DRIFTS AT LEAST TO THE WEST COAST BY NEXT WEEK WILL PROMOTE A  
DEEPER/BROADER MEAN TROUGH EXTENDING FROM CANADA INTO THE LOWER 48  
EAST OF THE ROCKIES. MEANWHILE INITIAL WESTERN U.S. TROUGH ENERGY  
SHOULD SPLIT, WITH SOME OF IT CONTINUING EASTWARD/PHASING WITH AN  
AMPLIFYING CANADIAN SHORTWAVE AND THE REST ELONGATING FOR A TIME  
OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN U.S. WITH SOME UNCERTAINTY AS TO ITS  
ULTIMATE SHAPE NEXT WEEK. AT THE SURFACE THERE IS A CONTINUED  
THEME OF WAVINESS NEAR/SOUTH OF THE GULF COAST AND CLOSE TO THE  
EAST COAST, BRINGING SOME POTENTIAL FOR PRECIPITATION ALONG THOSE  
COASTS BUT WITH LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN THE SPECIFICS. NORTHERN  
STREAM FRONTS/WAVES WILL NOT HAVE A LOT OF MOISTURE TO WORK AND  
SHOULD PRODUCE LIGHT PRECIPITATION IF ANY. THE UPPER ENERGY  
INITIALLY EMERGING FROM THE WEST MAY PRODUCE AN AREA OF SNOW OVER  
THE CENTRAL PLAINS (AND LINGERING OVER THE ROCKIES) ON SATURDAY  
WITH SOME RAIN TO THE SOUTH. LIGHT PRECIPITATION MAY EXTEND  
FARTHER EAST AND THEN THE PATTERN SHOULD BE FAVORABLE FOR SOME  
AREAS OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW FROM SUNDAY ONWARD.  
 
   
..GUIDANCE EVALUATION/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SHOW DIFFICULTY IN RESOLVING SOME OF THE  
DETAILS WITHIN THE MORE AGREEABLE LARGE SCALE EVOLUTION. IN LATEST  
RUNS THERE HAS BEEN SOME CONSENSUS EMERGING TOWARD A COMPACT  
SURFACE WAVE EVOLVING OFF THE SOUTHEAST COAST DURING THE WEEKEND  
IN RESPONSE TO WEAK SOUTHERN STREAM ENERGY AND THEN LIFTING  
NORTH/NORTHEAST AS THE OVERALL CANADA INTO CENTRAL U.S. TROUGH  
APPROACHES. HOWEVER THE PAST COUPLE CMC/UKMET RUNS HAVE DEPICTED A  
FARTHER WEST SURFACE LOW TRACK THAN THE GFS/ECMWF AND THEIR MEANS  
PLUS THE CMCENS MEAN. THE AMPLIFYING CANADIAN TROUGH ENERGY SHOULD  
SUPPORT A WELL DEFINED WAVE CROSSING THE UPPER GREAT LAKES OR  
ONTARIO AROUND SUNDAY (WITH TRAILING FRONT). THEN THIS FEATURE  
AND THE WESTERN ATLANTIC WAVE MAY INTERACT TO PRODUCE A STRONGER  
SYSTEM TO THE NORTHEAST OF MAINE BY EARLY TUESDAY. THE NEW 00Z GFS  
IS IN THE MINORITY FOR ITS CONCENTRATED UPPER LOW CROSSING  
NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND THOUGH. BEHIND THIS EVOLUTION, GUIDANCE HAS  
BEEN DIVERGENT AND ERRATIC WITH SYSTEM DETAILS IN LIGHT OF LOWER  
PREDICTABILITY SHORTWAVE DETAILS AT THE 6-7 DAY TIME FRAME  
(TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY). THE MOST COMMON THEME, CURRENTLY ILLUSTRATED  
BEST BY RECENT ECMWF RUNS AND THE GEFS/CMCENS MEANS, HAS GENERALLY  
BEEN TOWARD A WAVE REACHING THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND THEN THE GREAT  
LAKES DURING THAT PERIOD. 12Z ECMWF-INITIALIZED MACHINE LEARNING  
MODELS ALSO DEPICT THIS EVOLUTION. CMC RUNS STRAY FASTER WHILE THE  
GFS HAS BEEN INCONSISTENT WITH THE NORTHERN TIER DETAILS FROM RUN  
TO RUN. SPREAD OVER THE EAST PACIFIC/WESTERN U.S. AFTER MONDAY IS  
NOT AS BAD AS IT WAS 24 HOURS AGO BUT MEANINGFUL DIFFERENCES STILL  
EXIST. IN PARTICULAR, THE CMC HAS BEEN FASTEST TO SHIFT THE  
OVERALL PATTERN EASTWARD WHILE THE GFS IS IN THE MINORITY WITH HOW  
LONG IT HOLDS ONTO A CLOSED LOW NEAR BAJA CALIFORNIA.  
 
THE LATEST MANUAL FORECAST STARTED WITH A 12Z/18Z OPERATIONAL  
MODEL COMPOSITE EARLY IN THE PERIOD AND THEN BY AROUND MONDAY  
PHASED OUT THE MINORITY INPUT OF THE UKMET/CMC DUE TO THEIR LOWER  
CONFIDENCE SOLUTIONS ALONG THE EAST COAST AND WITH THE CMC  
STARTING TO STRAY FROM THE MAJORITY ALONG THE WEST COAST.  
INCREASING WEIGHT OF THE 18Z GFS/12Z ECENS MEANS LATER IN THE  
PERIOD LED TO AN EVEN PROPORTION OF MODELS/MEANS BY DAY 7  
WEDNESDAY, WITH COMMON ASPECTS OF THE GFS/ECMWF HELPING TO IMPROVE  
DEFINITION BUT DIFFERENCES OVER OTHER AREAS OFFSETTING TO KEEP THE  
FORECAST CLOSE TO THE MEANS.  
 
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
THE UPPER SYSTEM EMERGING FROM THE WEST MAY PRODUCE A FAIRLY  
LOCALIZED AREA OF MEANINGFUL SNOWFALL OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS  
AROUND SATURDAY. LATEST PROBABILITIES FOR AT LEAST A QUARTER INCH  
OF LIQUID IN THE FORM OF SNOW SHOW THE BEST POTENTIAL CENTERED  
OVER WEST-CENTRAL KANSAS. LIGHTER ACTIVITY COULD LINGER OVER THE  
SOUTH-CENTRAL ROCKIES. SOME RAIN MAY BE POSSIBLE OVER THE SOUTHERN  
PLAINS. A FRONT MAY CARRY REMAINING MOISTURE EASTWARD BUT LIKELY  
WITH FAIRLY LIGHT AMOUNTS. LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING OFF THE  
SOUTHEAST COAST DURING THE WEEKEND SHOULD LIFT-NORTHEAST  
THEREAFTER. COASTAL NORTH CAROLINA COULD SEE SOME RAIN WITH THIS  
SYSTEM WHILE CONFIDENCE REMAINS BELOW AVERAGE FOR HOW MUCH  
PRECIPITATION MAY OCCUR OVER THE NORTHEAST. A PASSING WAVE/FRONT  
AROUND SUNDAY-MONDAY AND THEN TRAILING FLOW AND POSSIBLY ANOTHER  
SYSTEM SHOULD PRODUCE EPISODES OF GREAT LAKES SNOW FROM A  
COMBINATION OF LAKE EFFECT AND SYNOPTIC INFLUENCES. THE GULF  
COAST/FLORIDA MAY SEE A REBOUND IN RAINFALL POTENTIAL TOWARD  
MIDWEEK BUT WITH LOW CONFIDENCE IN SPECIFICS AT THIS TIME.  
CURRENTLY THERE IS NO SUFFICIENTLY COHERENT SIGNAL FOR ORGANIZED  
HEAVY RAINFALL TO WARRANT ANY RISK AREAS ON THE DAY 4 AND DAY 5  
EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOKS.  
 
IN A FAIRLY COOL PATTERN OVER A MAJORITY OF THE LOWER 48 FROM THE  
WEEKEND INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK, THE MOST EXTREME TEMPERATURE  
ANOMALIES SHOULD BE OVER THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE CENTRAL ROCKIES  
INTO CENTRAL PLAINS ON SATURDAY WITH HIGHS 15-25F BELOW NORMAL.  
SOME OF THIS COLD AIR WILL CONTINUE SOUTHWARD INTO THE SOUTHERN  
PLAINS THEREAFTER WITH HIGHS AT LEAST 10-15F BELOW NORMAL  
SUNDAY-MONDAY AND PERHAPS INTO TUESDAY OVER FAR SOUTHERN TEXAS.  
ALSO, DURING THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK BRISK WINDS WILL  
MAKE IT FEEL COLDER OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN U.S. AND VICINITY. THE  
REST OF THE CENTRAL U.S. SHOULD MODERATE CLOSE TO NORMAL BY  
TUESDAY WITH NORTHERN PLAINS LOWS POSSIBLY TRENDING ABOVE NORMAL.  
CONTINUE TO EXPECT SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ALONG THE  
CENTRAL-NORTHERN WEST COAST AND PERHAPS EXPANDING A BIT BY THE  
MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK AS EAST PACIFIC UPPER RIDGING DRIFTS EASTWARD.  
THE EAST COAST WILL LIKELY BE CHILLY ON SATURDAY (HIGHS UP TO  
10-15F BELOW NORMAL OVER THE MID-ATLANTIC INTO NEW ENGLAND), WITH  
MOST OF THE EAST TENDING TO BE NEAR TO SOMEWHAT BELOW NORMAL FOR  
THE REST OF THE PERIOD.  
 
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  
 
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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