208  
FXUS10 KWNH 180631  
PMDHMD  
 
MODEL DIAGNOSTIC DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
130 AM EST WED DEC 18 2019  
 
VALID DEC 18/0000 UTC THRU DEC 21/1200 UTC  
 
...SEE NOUS42 KWNO (ADMNFD) FOR THE STATUS OF THE UPPER AIR  
INGEST...  
 
00Z MODEL EVALUATION WITH FINAL PREFERENCE AND FORECAST CONFIDENCE  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
   
..CLOSED MID-LEVEL LOW CROSSING NEW ENGLAND ON THURSDAY
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: GENERAL MODEL BLEND  
CONFIDENCE: ABOVE AVERAGE  
 
THE MODELS SHOW SIMILARLY WITH THIS SYSTEM. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES  
WERE NOTED WITH THE 00Z ECMWF/UKMET/CMC RELATIVE TO THEIR PREVIOUS  
CYCLES.  
 
...TROUGH OFF WEST COAST SPLITS THROUGH TO NORTH-CENTRAL AND  
SOUTHERN PLAINS...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: 12Z OR 00Z ECMWF/12Z CMC BLEND  
CONFIDENCE: AVERAGE  
   
..07Z UPDATE
 
 
TIMING CHANGES CONTINUED WITH THE 00Z NON-NCEP SUITE COMPARED TO  
THEIR PREVIOUS 12Z CYCLES. THE 00Z ECMWF SLOWED DOWN SLIGHTLY WITH  
THE CLOSED LOW PROGRESSING EASTWARD INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS ON  
FRIDAY. THE CHANGE WAS SMALL ENOUGH TO ALLOW IT AS PART OF THE  
PREFERENCE. HOWEVER, THE 00Z CMC SLOWED DOWN MORE SIGNIFICANTLY  
AND IS NOW SLOWER THAN THE 00Z NAM. ENSEMBLE SPAGHETTI PLOTS AND  
TRENDS DO NOT SUPPORT SUCH A SLOW SOLUTION AS DEPICTED BY THE 00Z  
NAM/CMC. THE 00Z UKMET ON THE OTHER HAND LOOKS REASONABLE WITH  
TIMING UNTIL AFTER 12Z/20 WHEN IT SPEEDS UP CLOSER TO THE 00Z GFS,  
BUT CONTINUES TO LACK MORE OF A SYMMETRIC CLOSED OFF AS SEEN IN  
THE REMAINING GUIDANCE. THE FINAL PREFERENCE WILL BE A BLEND OF  
THE 12Z CMC WITH THE ECMWF (EITHER 12Z OR 00Z).  
   
..PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOLLOWS
 
 
TIMING DIFFERENCES SHOW UP AS AN UPPER TROUGH CROSSES INTO THE  
GREAT BASIN WITH THE 00Z NAM SLOWEST AND 00Z GFS FASTEST. THE  
TIMING DIFFERENCES CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY BUT THE 12Z UKMET ENDS UP  
WITH LESS OF A CLOSED MID-LEVEL LOW OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND  
MORE OF AN ELONGATED POSITIVELY TILTED TROUGH AXIS.  
 
ENSEMBLES SUPPORT THEIR DETERMINISTIC COUNTERPARTS WITH THE ECENS  
MEMBERS SLOWER THAN THE GEFS MEMBERS. CANADIAN MEMBERS ARE IN THE  
MIDDLE BUT CLOSER TO THE ECMWF MEMBERS. THERE HAS BEEN GRADUAL  
TRENDING TOWARD A MIDDLE GROUND OVER THE PAST 3 12/00Z ENSEMBLE  
CYCLES. THE PREFERENCE IS TO GO TOWARD THE MIDDLE GROUND, NEAR THE  
12Z ECMWF/CMC BUT WITH ONLY AVERAGE CONFIDENCE GIVEN THE REMAINING  
ENSEMBLE SPREAD AND POTENTIAL FOR FUTURE TIMING ADJUSTMENTS.  
 
THE 12Z ECMWF/CMC PREFERENCE ALSO HOLDS TRUE WITH THE NORTHERN  
PORTION OF THE UPPER TROUGH THAT TRACKS TOWARD THE GREAT LAKES. BY  
SATURDAY MORNING, ENSEMBLES FAVOR A MIDDLE GROUND, BETWEEN THAT OF  
THE SLOWER 12Z ECMWF AND FASTER 12Z CMC WHICH HAPPENS TO BE NEAR  
THE 00Z NAM/GFS.  
 
   
..PERSISTENT ONSHORE FLOW INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: 00Z NAM/GFS/ECMWF BLEND, LESS GFS WEIGHTING BY 12Z/21  
CONFIDENCE: SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE  
   
..07Z UPDATE
 
 
THE LATEST 00Z NON-NCEP SUITE IS SIMILAR WITH THE SURFACE WAVE  
WEST OF THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA BUT THE 00Z UKMET IS A BIT FASTER  
THURSDAY NIGHT. OTHERWISE CHANGES WITH THE FRONTAL TIMING WERE  
SMALL WITH THE PREFERENCE CONTINUING TO POINT TOWARD A BLEND OF  
THE 00Z NAM/GFS/ECMWF, WITH LESS WEIGHTING ON THE FASTER 00Z GFS  
BY 12Z/21.  
   
..PREVIOUS DISCUSSION FOLLOWS
 
 
ONSHORE FLOW INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST ON THURSDAY BEGINS TO  
ALTER AS A LARGE MID-UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AXIS APPROACHES THE REGION  
AND STEADY/MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW AIMS INTO WASHINGTON AND OREGON.  
THE MODELS HAVE COME INTO FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT REGARDING A  
FRONTAL WAVE FORECAST TO BE ABOUT 250-300 MILES WEST OF THE  
OLYMPIC PENINSULA 00Z/20. AFTERWARD, TIMING DIFFERENCES APPEAR  
WITH THE BASE OF THE LONGWAVE TROUGH AXIS AS IT BEGINS TO  
APPROACH, WITH THE 00Z GFS FASTEST COMPARED TO THE REMAINING  
DETERMINISTIC AND ENSEMBLE CONSENSUS. GIVEN THE RELATIVELY  
CONSISTENT RUN TO RUN GUIDANCE FROM THE ENSEMBLES, AND THE 00Z GFS  
PLACEMENT AHEAD OF THE ENSEMBLE CLUSTERING, LESS WEIGHT ON THE 00Z  
GFS IS RECOMMENDED TOWARD 12Z/21, WITH A 00Z NAM/12Z ECMWF BLEND  
MORE GREATLY PREFERRED.  
 
MODEL TRENDS AT WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/HTML/MODEL2.HTML  
500 MB FORECASTS AT WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/H5PREF/H5PREF.SHTML  
 
OTTO  
 

 
 
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