832  
FXUS02 KWBC 031901  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
200 PM EST SUN MAR 03 2024  
 
VALID 12Z WED MAR 06 2024 - 12Z SUN MAR 10 2024  
 
...WET PATTERN FOR PARTS OF THE EASTERN U.S., ESPECIALLY ACROSS  
THE SOUTH AND THE EAST COAST...  
 
   
..OVERVIEW
 
 
MODELS AND ENSEMBLES ADVERTISE A COUPLE WET SYSTEMS AFFECTING THE  
EASTERN HALF OF THE COUNTRY DURING THE PERIOD, WITH ONE CONFINED  
NEAR THE EAST COAST MID-LATE WEEK AND THAN A MUCH BROADER ONE  
PROGRESSING ACROSS THE CENTRAL-EASTERN U.S. LATE WEEK THROUGH THE  
WEEKEND AS UPPER TROUGH ENERGY INITIALLY CROSSING THE WEST  
CONTINUES EASTWARD. THIS WESTERN UPPER TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED  
SURFACE REFLECTION WILL INITIALLY PRODUCE AREAS OF LIGHT TO  
MODERATE PRECIPITATION FROM CALIFORNIA INTO THE ROCKIES MID-LATE  
WEEK. A TRAILING UPPER RIDGE WILL PROMOTE A DRIER TREND OVER MOST  
OF THE WEST BUT THEN A TRAILING UPPER TROUGH AND ONE OR MORE  
SURFACE FRONTS SHOULD BRING PRECIPITATION BACK TO THE PACIFIC  
NORTHWEST/NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BY LATE WEEK THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND.  
 
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
OVERALL, THE GUIDANCE SHOWS DECENT AGREEMENT ON THE OVERALL LARGE  
SCALE PATTERN DURING THE MEDIUM RANGE PERIOD, BUT STILL A LOT OF  
UNCERTAINTY IN THE DETAILS, WHICH HAS SOME CONSIDERABLY  
IMPLICATIONS FOR WEATHER AND HAZARD IMPACTS ACROSS SOME PARTS OF  
THE COUNTRY. IMMEDIATELY, THERE ARE SOME PLACEMENT/TIMING  
DIFFERENCES WITH THE FIRST OF A COUPLE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS  
THROUGH THE EAST WED-FRI. THE 06Z GFS WAS A LITTLE MORE  
OFFSHORE/FASTER WITH THE LOW AS IT EXITS THE MID-ATLANTIC COAST  
LATE THURSDAY/EARLY FRIDAY COMPARED TO THE OTHER DETERMINISTIC  
SOLUTIONS, BUT THERE WAS SOME SUPPORT FOR THAT LITTLE BIT FASTER  
MOTION FROM THE 00Z ECMWF-INITIALIZED MACHINE LEARNING MODELS.  
MEANWHILE, THE NEXT SYSTEM SHOULD BE EJECTING INTO THE PLAINS BY  
FRIDAY AND THERE IS MORE UNCERTAINTY ON ITS TRACK ACROSS THE  
MIDWEST/TENNESSEE VALLEY AND AN EVENTUAL TRIPLE POINT LOW EXITING  
THE MID-ATLANTIC SUNDAY-MONDAY. THIS SEEMS RELATED TO HOW NORTHERN  
STREAM AND SOUTHERN STREAM ENERGY COMBINE/INTERACT. THE 00Z CMC  
RUN HAD THE MOST NORTHERLY TRACK FOR THIS SYSTEM, BUT THE NEW 12Z  
RUN CAME IN TODAY FARTHER SOUTH, WHICH HAS BETTER CONSENSUS WITH  
THE GFS/ECMWF AND ENSEMBLE MEANS. THE NEXT SHORTWAVE LOOKS TO  
ENTER THE WEST AROUND NEXT SUNDAY INTO MONDAY, AND HAS FAIRLY GOOD  
AGREEMENT AT THIS POINT IN THE GUIDANCE.  
 
THE WPC FORECAST FOR TODAY USED A BLEND OF THE DETERMINISTIC  
GUIDANCE FOR DAYS 3-4. FOR THE LATER PERIODS, INCORPORATED MORE OF  
THE ENSEMBLE MEANS TO TEMPER SOME OF THE DETAIL UNCERTAINTIES, BUT  
STILL MAINTAINING 50 PERCENT OF THE DETERMINISTIC GUIDANCE AMIDST  
GOOD OVERALL AGREEMENT. THIS ALSO MAINTAINED GOOD AGREEMENT WITH  
THE PREVIOUS WPC FORECAST.  
 
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
THE EASTERN HALF OF THE COUNTRY WILL SEE AN ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN  
DURING THE PERIOD. A DEVELOPING WAVE AFFECTING AREAS NEAR THE  
EAST COAST MID-LATE WEEK SHOULD PRODUCE ONE AREA OF ENHANCED  
PRECIPITATION, BUT WITH DETAILS CONTINUING TO SHOW LOWER THAN  
AVERAGE CONFIDENCE DUE TO HIGH SENSITIVITY TO EXACT SURFACE LOW  
TRACK. THE NEW DAY 4/WEDNESDAY-WEDNESDAY NIGHT EXCESSIVE RAINFALL  
OUTLOOK PROPOSES SOME ADJUSTMENT TO THE PRIOR DAY 5 MARGINAL RISK  
AREA, MAINTAINING A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF THE ORIGINAL AREA THAT  
OVERLAPPED WITH RELATIVELY LOWER FFGS OVER PARTS OF THE CENTRAL  
APPALACHIANS/NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC (BUT WITH MIXED SIGNALS FOR QPF  
TOTALS) AND EXPANDING IT TO INCLUDE SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND WHERE  
THERE IS A LITTLE BETTER OF A SIGNAL FOR HEAVIER RAINFALL  
POTENTIAL. SOME SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IN THE FORM OF RAIN  
AND/OR SNOW MAY CONTINUE NORTHEASTWARD OVER NEW ENGLAND INTO DAY  
5/THURSDAY-THURSDAY NIGHT BUT CONFIDENCE IN TOTALS OR  
PRECIPITATION TYPE DISTRIBUTION (WITH SOME SNOW POSSIBLE EVEN  
CLOSE TO THE NEW ENGLAND COAST IF THE SURFACE TRACK IS FAR ENOUGH  
OFFSHORE) IS TOO LOW TO DEPICT ANY RISK AREA FOR THE DAY 5 ERO.  
AS UPPER TROUGHING EMERGES FROM THE WEST, A FAIRLY VIGOROUS  
SURFACE SYSTEM SHOULD DEVELOP OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. LATE THIS WEEK  
AND CONTINUE INTO THE EAST BY NEXT WEEKEND. THE DAY  
5/THURSDAY-THURSDAY NIGHT ERO DEPICTS A MARGINAL RISK AREA FROM  
PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE PLAINS INTO THE SOUTH-CENTRAL  
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AS CONVECTION DEVELOPS IN ASSOCIATION WITH LOW  
PRESSURE AND ATTACHED FRONTS. BY FRIDAY THE PAST COUPLE DAYS OF  
GUIDANCE HAVE BEEN SIGNALING POTENTIAL FOR HEAVIER RAINFALL OVER  
PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHEAST AND THIS WILL CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED.  
OTHERWISE, YET TO BE DETERMINED SYSTEM DETAILS WILL DICTATE OTHER  
AREAS IN THE EASTERN HALF OF THE COUNTRY THAT MAY SEE SIGNIFICANT  
PRECIPITATION FROM THIS SYSTEM. SOME LOCATIONS FROM THE CENTRAL  
HIGH PLAINS INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST, GREAT LAKES, AND NEW ENGLAND  
COULD SEE SOME SNOW BUT CURRENTLY WITH 24-HOUR PROBABILITIES OF  
0.25 INCH LIQUID IN THE FORM OF SNOW STAYING UNDER 30 PERCENT THUS  
FAR.  
 
EXPECT A WAVY FRONTAL SYSTEM TO BRING LIGHT TO LOCALLY MODERATE  
PRECIPITATION TO CALIFORNIA ON WEDNESDAY WITH SOME RAIN AND HIGHER  
ELEVATION SNOW EXTENDING EASTWARD INTO THE ROCKIES MID-LATE WEEK.  
MOST OF THE WEST WILL SEE A DRIER TREND AS THIS MOISTURE  
PROGRESSES EASTWARD, THOUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND NORTHERN  
CALIFORNIA SHOULD SEE A REBOUND IN RAINFALL/MOUNTAIN SNOW LATE  
THIS WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND WITH THE APPROACH/ARRIVAL OF AN UPPER  
TROUGH AND A COUPLE FRONTAL SYSTEMS.  
 
THE UPPER TROUGH CROSSING THE WEST MID-LATE WEEK WILL PROMOTE  
BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION, WITH SOME  
AREAS OF HIGH TEMPERATURES AS COOL AS 10-15F BELOW AVERAGE ALSO  
EXTENDING INTO PARTS OF THE HIGH PLAINS FOR A TIME. NEGATIVE  
ANOMALIES FOR MORNING LOWS SHOULD BE CONFINED MORE TO THE  
NORTHWEST/GREAT BASIN. BY NEXT WEEKEND CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION  
MAY KEEP HIGHS A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST  
NEXT WEEKEND BUT OTHER PORTIONS OF THE WEST SHOULD TREND TOWARD  
NORMAL AS UPPER RIDGING BUILDS IN, WHILE TEMPERATURES SHOULD RISE  
TO ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS. THE EASTERN HALF  
OF THE COUNTRY SHOULD STAY ON THE WARM SIDE OF NORMAL MID-LATE  
WEEK WITH THE MOST ANOMALOUS READINGS OF PLUS 20-30F FOR MORNING  
LOWS ON WEDNESDAY FROM PARTS OF THE OHIO/TENNESSEE VALLEY INTO THE  
NORTHEAST. THESE VALUES MAY LEAD TO SOME DAILY RECORDS FOR WARM  
LOWS IF THEY HOLD FOR THE CALENDAR DAY. EASTWARD PROGRESSION OF  
THE LATE WEEK/WEEKEND STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING A COOLING TREND FROM  
WEST TO EAST, WITH HIGHS OVER THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE COUNTRY  
DECLINING TO NEAR OR SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL BY NEXT SUNDAY.  
 
SANTORELLI/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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