145  
FXUS04 KWBC 041846  
QPFPFD  
 
QUANTITATIVE PRECIPITATION FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
246 PM EDT MON JUN 04 2018  
 
PRELIM DAY 1 QPF DISCUSSION  
VALID JUN 05/0000 UTC THRU JUN 06/0000 UTC  
REFERENCE AWIPS GRAPHICS UNDER...PRECIP ACCUM - 24HR  
 
   
..SOUTHERN U.S
 
 
FROM THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY THE PREDICTED RAINFALL OVER  
THE CONUS IS LOW ON COVERAGE AND NOT ESPECIALLY HEAVY ON AVERAGE.  
ONE OF THE HEAVIER STRIPES OF EXPECTED RAINFALL EXTENDS FROM NEAR  
THE RED RIVER DOWN TO NEW ORLEANS / BILOXI, STRADDLING A  
STATIONARY FRONTAL ZONE. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL POOL AND  
GRADUALLY DEEPEN NEAR THE FRONT, AND A MID LEVEL TROUGH SLICING  
THROUGH THE MEAN LARGER SCALE RIDGE POSITION SHOULD SUPPORT BETTER  
ORGANIZED CLUSTERS OF THUNDERSTORMS BY LATE TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY.  
IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE FORECAST, HOWEVER, WE WERE SOMEWHAT  
PESSIMISTIC AS TO HOW MUCH CONVECTIVE COVERAGE WOULD BE REALIZED.  
THE MCS THAT ROLLED OUT OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY THIS MORNING HAD  
DISSIPATED, AND MORNING RAOBS IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND LOWER  
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY REVEALED A LOT OF VERY WARM AND DRY MID LEVEL  
AIR WITH WEAK TO MID RANGE LAPSE RATES, AS WELL AS SHALLOW LOW  
LEVEL MOISTURE.  
 
WPC SIDED WITH THE HRRR AND WRF-NMMB WHICH SUGGEST IF ANY  
ORGANIZED AFTERNOON CONVECTION IS TO FORM IT IS MORE LIKELY TO  
OCCUR WITH EASTWARD EXTENT, AHEAD OF THE REMNANT MCV AND TOWARD  
THE COOLER - ROUGHLY 8 C AT 700 MB - MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES IN FAR  
EAST TEXAS AND LOUISIANA. MUCH OF THE REMAINDER OF CENTRAL TEXAS  
UP THROUGH OKLAHOMA MAY REMAIN CAPPED, ALTHOUGH WITH STRONG  
HEATING AND HOLDING ONTO SOME CONTINUITY, WE DO INDICATE SOME  
WIDELY SCATTERED ACTIVITY.  
 
EXPECT COVERAGE TO INCREASE OVERNIGHT, BUT IT MAY WAIT UNTIL LATER  
IN THE NIGHT OVER OK/TX, AS THE LOW LEVEL JET VEERS TO INDUCE  
STRONGER WARM ADVECTION / MORE STEEPLY CROSSING THE MID LEVEL  
ISOTHERMS. EVEN STILL, THE CORE OF THE LOW LEVEL JET WILL BE  
LOCATED FARTHER WEST SUCH THAT FLOW SPEEDS IN THE AREA OF DEEP  
FORCING NEAR THE MID LEVEL TROUGH WILL LIKELY REMAIN LIGHT, LESS  
THAN 25 KNOTS AT 850 MB. WHEREVER ACTIVITY DOES DEVELOP, HOWEVER,  
THERE WILL BE POTENTIAL FOR VERY SLOW MOVEMENT INITIALLY, AND SOME  
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS. GIVEN THE LIMITING THERMODYNAMIC  
FACTORS LISTED ABOVE, WPC LEANED AS FAR NORTH AND EAST AS POSSIBLE  
FROM LATE TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY, USING A MAJORITY WRF-NMMB AND NAM  
CONUS NEST - WHICH LINE UP WELL WITH THE EXPECTED NORTH SIDE OF  
THE SYNOPTIC FRONT PER THE NAM. THIS APPROACH RESULTED IN LESSER  
QPF OVER TEXAS AND GREATER QPF DOWNSTREAM INTO LOUISIANA AND THE  
CENTRAL GULF COAST.  
   
..NORTHERN PLAINS
 
 
A SHARP, BUT LOW AMPLITUDE SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL EJECT THROUGH THE  
NORTHERN ROCKIES THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. PRIMARY HEIGHT FALLS  
WILL OCCUR UP IN CANADA, BUT SOME DEEP LAYER FORCING AND A  
GENERALLY DIFLUENT JET STRUCTURE WILL COINCIDE WITH AN INSTABILITY  
AXIS OVER PARTS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN MONTANA, LEADING TO AT  
LEAST SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. GIVEN THE FLOW STRENGTH, CELLS WILL  
BE MOVING QUICKLY, SO THERE IS RELATIVELY LITTLE RISK OF EXCESSIVE  
RAINFALL IN THIS REGION, BUT MOST-UNSTABLE CAPE VALUES ABOVE 1000  
J/KG AND PW VALUES JUST SHY OF AN INCH OPEN UP THE POSSIBILITY OF  
A QUICK ACCUMULATION OF AN INCH OR MORE IN SOME ISOLATED  
LOCATIONS, OWING TO BRIEF TRAINING OR CELL MERGERS. GUIDANCE IS  
ALL PRETTY AGREEABLE AS TO THE AREAL AVERAGE RAINFALL. DOWNSTREAM  
THE EVENT WILL INCREASINGLY BECOME DEPENDENT ON WARM ADVECTION  
OVERNIGHT IN NORTH DAKOTA, AND AS THE MORE SURFACE-BASED ACTIVITY  
DIMINISHES OUT OF MONTANA, THERE MAY BE A LOCAL MINIMUM OF  
COVERAGE / INTENSITY IN WESTERN ND, PICKING UP FARTHER EAST WITH  
STRONGER WARM ADVECTION. THIS REGIME EVENTUALLY LEADS TO LIKELY  
MCS DEVELOPMENT THE FOLLOWING NIGHT, TUESDAY NIGHT, DOWNSTREAM  
INTO EASTERN ND PER THE DAY 2 FORECAST.  
   
..GREAT LAKES / NORTHEAST / MID ATLANTIC
 
 
THE MAIN WARM CONVEYOR AND DEEP MOISTURE WILL REMAIN OFFSHORE  
AHEAD OF EAST COAST TROUGHING. CONTINUED HEIGHT FALLS, HOWEVER,  
WORKING WITH SUFFICIENT RESIDUAL MOISTURE, WILL LEAD TO A RAINY  
PERIOD FOR NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND, AND A SHARP SHORTWAVE TROUGH  
DIVING THROUGH THE LOWER LAKES INTO THE OHIO VALLEY WILL BRING  
SOME SHOWERY / THUNDERY WEATHER AS WELL. THE MORE STRATIFORM AREA  
OVER NEW ENGLAND SHOULD BE WELL HANDLED BY A CONSENSUS QPF  
APPROACH. FROM THE LAKES INTO THE OHIO VALLEY THE SYNOPTIC FORCING  
PER THE GLOBAL MODELS SUPPORTED LEANING ON QPF FROM THE ECMWF AND  
THE WRF-NMMB (WHICH WAS PREFERRED IN OTHER REGIONS AS WELL).  
 
BURKE  
 

 
 
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