947  
FXUS10 KWNH 310435  
PMDHMD  
 
MODEL DIAGNOSTIC DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
1134 PM EST MON DEC 30 2019  
 
VALID DEC 31/0000 UTC THRU JAN 03/1200 UTC  
 
...SEE NOUS42 KWNO (ADMNFD) FOR THE STATUS OF THE UPPER AIR  
INGEST...  
 
00Z MODEL EVALUATION WITH PREFERENCES/CONFIDENCE  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
   
..GREAT LAKES AND NORTHEAST CLOSED LOW
 
   
..SURFACE LOW TRACKING ALONG NEW ENGLAND COASTLINE TUESDAY
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: GENERAL MODEL BLEND  
CONFIDENCE: ABOVE AVERAGE  
 
AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW WEAKENS/OPENS UP OVER THE NORTHEAST U.S.  
OVER THE NEXT 24-36 HOURS, A SECONDARY SURFACE LOW WILL DEVELOP  
OFF THE MID-ATLANTIC TO NEW ENGLAND COAST. EARLIER DIFFERENCES  
WITH THE TRACK/TIMING (GFS FASTER) HAVE DIMINISHED WITH THE MOST  
RECENT GUIDANCE NOW SHOWING FAIRLY TIGHT CLUSTERING OF SOLUTIONS.  
AS A RESULT, THERE IS HIGH ENOUGH FORECAST CONFIDENCE AND  
CONSISTENCY TO GO WITH A GENERAL MODEL BLEND FOR THIS REGION.  
   
..CLOSED LOW ENTERING MEXICO AND WEAKENING WEDNESDAY NIGHT
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: NON-CMC BLEND  
CONFIDENCE: AVERAGE  
 
TIMING DIFFERENCES ARE STILL APPARENT AS A CLOSED LOW ENTERS  
MEXICO ON WEDNESDAY, WITH THE MOST RECENT GUIDANCE SHOWING THE  
SIGNIFICANT SLOW BIAS OF THE 12Z CMC. THE 00Z GFS AND NAM SHOW  
SIMILARITIES AT 500 MB TO THE ECMWF/UKMET THROUGH ABOUT 60 HOURS,  
THEN THE NAM BECOMES A BIT SLOWER THAN THE OTHER GUIDANCE. FOR  
NOW, WILL LEAN ON A NON-CMC BLEND GIVEN ITS DELAYED/SLOW SCENARIO.  
 
...ATMOSPHERIC RIVER SINKING INTO PAC NW TONIGHT AND AMPLIFYING  
INTO LONGWAVE TROUGH ACROSS THE CENTRAL U.S. THURSDAY EVENING...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: GENERAL MODEL BLEND THROUGH 03.00Z FOLLOWED BY A  
ECMWF/UKMET BLEND  
CONFIDENCE: SLIGHTLY BELOW AVERAGE  
 
THERE'S FAIRLY GOOD MODEL AGREEMENT AND RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY  
SEEN IN THE ATMOSPHERIC RIVER EVENT HEADING FOR THE PACIFIC NW THE  
NEXT 24-36 HOURS. AS THE SHORTWAVE DIGS ACROSS THE WEST AND  
EVENTUALLY CARVES OUT A LONGWAVE TROUGH FOR THE CENTRAL U.S.  
MID/LATE WEEK, A SURFACE LOW IS FORECAST DEVELOP IN THE VICINITY  
OF TX/OK. WITH THE NEUTRAL TO SLIGHTLY POSITIVE TILTED TROUGH IN  
PLACE, WAVY LOW PRESSURE SHOULD LIFT ALONG THE SOUTH-CENTRAL  
PLAINS TO MID-MS RIVER VALLEY. THERE ARE SOME NOTABLE DIFFERENCES  
IN THE LOW TRACK/POSITION. THE LOW TRACK PLOTS AT 03.00Z AND  
03.12Z SHOW SIZABLE SPREAD THAT LOWERS OVERALL FORECAST  
CONFIDENCE. A CONSENSUS APPROACH IS APPROPRIATE FOR THE FIRST 60  
HOURS (GENERAL MODEL BLEND) BUT THEN A ECMWF/UKMET/GFS BLEND IS  
PREFERRED, GIVEN THE CMC'S TIMING BIAS.  
 
...SHORTWAVE TROUGH AND SURFACE LOW APPROACHING PACIFIC NORTHWEST  
FRIDAY/SATURDAY...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: ECMWF/UKMET BLEND  
CONFIDENCE: SLIGHTLY BELOW AVERAGE  
 
AFTER A BRIEF PERIOD OF RIDGING, ANOTHER SHORTWAVE TROUGH  
APPROACHES THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST LATE IN THE WEEK INTO THIS  
WEEKEND. THERE ARE CONSIDERABLE TIMING DIFFERENCES TYPICALLY SEEN  
IN THE GUIDANCE, WHERE THE GFS IS MUCH FASTER COMPARED TO THE  
NON-NCEP GUIDANCE. THE 00Z GFS RACES OUT AHEAD OF MOST OF THE  
GUIDANCE AND IS SIGNIFICANTLY FASTER THAN THE GEFS MEAN AS WELL  
(WHICH IS CLOSE TO THE ECMWF/ECENS SOLUTION). AS SUCH, WILL FAVOR  
THE NON-NCEP GUIDANCE WITH A ECMWF/UKMET BLEND PREFERENCE.  
 
MODEL TRENDS AT WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/HTML/MODEL2.HTML  
500 MB FORECASTS AT WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/H5PREF/H5PREF.SHTML  
 
TAYLOR  
 

 
 
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