030  
FXUS02 KWBC 301833  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
232 PM EDT SUN OCT 30 2022  
 
VALID 12Z WED NOV 2 2022 - 12Z SUN NOV 6 2022  
 
...WESTERN-CENTRAL U.S. SYSTEM TO BRING HEAVY MOUNTAIN SNOW TO  
PARTS OF THE GREAT BASIN/ROCKIES AND POSSIBLY HEAVY RAIN TO PARTS  
OF THE PLAINS...  
 
18Z UPDATE: THE 12Z MODEL GUIDANCE HAS CONTINUED TO IMPROVE IN  
REGARD TO THE UPCOMING PATTERN CHANGE ACROSS THE WESTERN/CENTRAL  
U.S. AS A LARGE SYNOPTIC SCALE TROUGH AMPLIFIES, AND THEN EVOLVES  
INTO A CLOSED UPPER LOW OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST THURSDAY NIGHT,  
AND THEN TRACKS EAST TO THE CENTRAL PLAINS BY THE WEEKEND. THE  
LATEST 12Z RUN OF THE CMC IS NOW MUCH CLOSER TO THE MODEL  
CONSENSUS COMPARED TO ITS 00Z RUN THAT WAS QUITE PROGRESSIVE WITH  
THIS LOW BY FRIDAY AND BEYOND. THE PAST COUPLE OF GFS RUNS ARE  
SLOWER TO EJECT THE LOW OUT ACROSS THE PLAINS BY NEXT SUNDAY, BUT  
THE OVERALL STRUCTURE DEPICTED BY THE GFS LOOKS REASONABLE.  
FARTHER TO THE NORTH ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA, FORECAST UNCERTAINTY  
IS HIGHER REGARDING IMPULSES IN THE NORTHERN STREAM FLOW,  
INCLUDING ENHANCED UPPER LEVEL FLOW AND SHORTWAVE ENERGY REACHING  
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST BY NEXT WEEKEND. THE FRONTS AND PRESSURES  
FORECAST WAS PRIMARILY DERIVED FROM A GFS/ECMWF/UKMET BLEND  
THROUGH FRIDAY (SINCE THE 00Z CMC WAS NOTED AS LIKELY TOO  
PROGRESSIVE), FOLLOWED BY GREATER WEIGHTING TOWARDS THE WELL  
CLUSTERED ECMWF/GEFS MEAN FOR THE WEEKEND. IN TERMS OF QPF, SOME  
DETERMINISTIC GFS/ECMWF WAS INCORPORATED ALONG WITH THE NBM TO ADD  
DETAIL AND SLIGHTLY INCREASE QPF ACROSS THE WEST THROUGH FRIDAY,  
AND THEN TRANSITIONED TO MAINLY NBM FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. THE  
PREVIOUS FORECAST DISCUSSION IS APPENDED BELOW FOR REFERENCE.  
/HAMRICK  
---------------------  
   
..OVERVIEW  
 
EXPECT STRONG AMPLIFICATION OF THE UPPER PATTERN TO BE ALREADY IN  
PROGRESS AS OF THE START OF THE PERIOD WEDNESDAY, WITH A TROUGH  
BEGINNING TO MOVE INTO THE WEST AND RIDGE BUILDING OVER THE EAST  
(WITH AN EMBEDDED COMPACT SHORTWAVE/LOW MAKING PROGRESS TOWARD THE  
ATLANTIC). THE WESTERN TROUGH IS LIKELY TO CLOSE OFF AN UPPER LOW  
THAT SHOULD MAKE ITS WAY INTO THE PLAINS BY THE WEEKEND. THIS  
SYSTEM WILL SPREAD A BROAD AREA OF RAIN/MOUNTAIN SNOW AND WELL  
BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES OVER THE WEST AND THEN BRING THE  
POTENTIAL FOR AREAS OF HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG CONVECTION TO  
PARTS OF THE CENTRAL U.S. GUIDANCE CLUSTERING FOR THIS SYSTEM HAS  
IMPROVED SOMEWHAT BUT THERE IS STILL MEANINGFUL UNCERTAINTY OVER  
SOME IMPORTANT DETAILS. BEHIND THIS SYSTEM A STRONG NORTH PACIFIC  
JET SHOULD SAG INTO THE NORTHWEST BY THE LATE WEEK/WEEKEND TIME  
FRAME, LEADING TO POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT TERRAIN-ENHANCED  
PRECIPITATION. A BROAD AREA OF MOSTLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES  
WILL COVER AREAS EAST OF THE ROCKIES THROUGH THURSDAY, FOLLOWED BY  
A COOLING TREND OVER THE PLAINS WHILE THE EASTERN U.S. REMAINS  
QUITE WARM.  
 
   
..GUIDANCE AND PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT  
 
MODELS/MEANS THROUGH THE 12Z/18Z CYCLES REFLECTED SOMEWHAT BETTER  
AGREEMENT FOR THE WESTERN-CENTRAL U.S. SYSTEM THAN IN SOME EARLIER  
RUNS, WITH GEFS MEAN RUNS SEEMING TO PROVIDE THE MOST CONSISTENT  
IDEA FOR THE TROUGH/UPPER LOW TIMING (ALBEIT WITH A TYPICALLY MUCH  
WEAKER STRENGTH THAN THE OPERATIONAL SOLUTIONS). DURING THE FIRST  
HALF OF THE PERIOD AN OPERATIONAL MODEL COMPOSITE LOOKED GOOD  
THROUGH THURSDAY BUT THEN THE 12Z UKMET STRAYED A BIT FASTER THAN  
OTHER GUIDANCE, FAVORING ITS EXCLUSION BY EARLY DAY 5 FRIDAY. NOT  
SURPRISINGLY THE MODEL SPREAD INCREASES AS THE UPPER LOW REACHES  
THE PLAINS. BY DAY 7 SUNDAY A SOLUTION BETWEEN THE 12Z GFS/OLD  
00Z ECMWF (SLIGHTLY WEST) AND 12Z ECMWF/CMC (EAST) APPEARED MOST  
REASONABLE, FITTING CLOSE TO THE ENSEMBLE MEAN TROUGH AXIS. THUS  
THE 12Z/18Z MODEL COMPOSITE TRANSITIONED TO INCORPORATE THOSE FOUR  
OPERATIONAL MODEL RUNS (18Z GFS BECOMING A BIT SLOW), WITH ONLY A  
MODEST GEFS/ECENS COMPONENT TO MAINTAIN REASONABLE DETAIL OF THE  
UPPER LOW. AMONG THE NEW 00Z RUNS, THE CMC HAS STRAYED TO A FAST  
EXTREME WHILE THE UKMET HAS COME BACK TO CONSENSUS AND THE GFS IS  
A BIT SLOW LIKE THE 18Z RUN. THAT CMC RUN AS WELL AS A BROAD  
ENSEMBLE SPREAD STILL TEMPER CONFIDENCE EVEN THOUGH A DECENT  
MAJORITY CLUSTER HAS BECOME ESTABLISHED. MEANWHILE THE GFS/ECMWF  
TRENDS THROUGH 12Z/18Z SEEMED TO SHOW SOME CONVERGENCE REGARDING  
THE DETAILS OF STRONG PACIFIC FLOW MOVING INTO WESTERN CANADA AND  
THE NORTHWEST U.S. LATE WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND, WITH A GENERAL  
GUIDANCE BLEND PROVIDING A REASONABLE STARTING POINT TO RESOLVE  
LINGERING DETAIL/POSITION DIFFERENCES.  
 
   
..WEATHER/HAZARD HIGHLIGHTS  
 
THE UPPER TROUGH AMPLIFYING INTO THE WEST AND LEADING SURFACE  
FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL BRING A PERIOD OF WETTER AND COLDER WEATHER TO  
THE REGION MID-LATE WEEK. THE BEST FOCUS FOR RAIN/MOUNTAIN SNOW  
SHOULD BE ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN AND NORTHERN-CENTRAL ROCKIES  
EARLY IN THE PERIOD WITH SOME ACTIVITY ALSO REACHING INTO SOUTHERN  
PARTS OF THE WEST. DETAILS OVER SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE WEST WILL  
BE SENSITIVE TO THE EXACT TRACK OF THE EXPECTED UPPER LOW. WPC  
WINTER WEATHER OUTLOOK PROBABILITIES REFLECT AREAS WITH THE BEST  
POTENTIAL FOR MEANINGFUL MOUNTAIN SNOW IN THE GREAT BASIN/ROCKIES.  
RAIN SHOULD INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY OVER THE CENTRAL  
U.S. LATE IN THE WEEK AND PERSIST INTO THE WEEKEND AS THE WESTERN  
SYSTEM APPROACHES. SOME RAIN MAY BECOME HEAVY AND STRONG  
CONVECTION IS POSSIBLE AS WELL. MONITOR STORM PREDICTION CENTER  
OUTLOOKS FOR LATEST INFORMATION ON SEVERE POTENTIAL. AT LEAST TO  
THE EXTENT THAT RAINFALL DOES NOT BECOME LOCALLY EXCESSIVE, THE  
RAIN WILL BE BENEFICIAL GIVEN THE ONGOING DROUGHT OVER THAT PART  
OF THE COUNTRY. BEHIND THIS SYSTEM, STRONG PACIFIC FLOW REACHING  
INTO THE NORTHWEST TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK AND NEXT WEEKEND  
SHOULD INCREASE RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW OVER THE REGION. GUIDANCE  
DIFFERENCES STILL EXIST BUT ARE LESS PRONOUNCED THAN THEY WERE  
YESTERDAY, AND THERE IS A DECENT SIGNAL THAT THIS PRECIPITATION  
COULD REACH MODERATE TO HEAVY INTENSITY FOR A TIME.  
 
THE WEST WILL SEE A BROAD AREA OF DAYTIME HIGHS 10-20F OR SO BELOW  
NORMAL UNDER THE FORECAST UPPER TROUGH/LOW WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY.  
DOUBLE-DIGIT ANOMALIES SHOULD BECOME MUCH MORE SCATTERED DURING  
THE WEEKEND (MOST LIKELY LINGERING INTO SATURDAY OVER FAR SOUTHERN  
LOCATIONS) AS TEMPERATURES MODERATE BUT MOST AREAS SHOULD REMAIN  
NEAR TO BELOW NORMAL FOR HIGHS. ON THE OTHER HAND, WELL ABOVE  
NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL PREVAIL OVER MOST AREAS EAST OF THE  
ROCKIES THROUGH ABOUT THURSDAY AND THEN THE PLAINS WILL LIKELY  
TREND COOLER WHILE THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND EAST REMAIN WARM.  
DURING WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY THE WARMEST ANOMALIES (PLUS 10-25F)  
SHOULD BE FROM THE UPPER MIDWEST INTO CENTRAL PLAINS WHILE AREAS  
FROM THE GREAT LAKES/OHIO VALLEY INTO NORTHEAST SHOULD SEE  
MULTIPLE DAYS WITH TEMPERATURES 10-20F ABOVE NORMAL DURING 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, EXPERIMENTAL EXCESSIVE RAINFALL  
OUTLOOK, WINTER WEATHER OUTLOOK PROBABILITIES AND HEAT INDICES 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  
 
 
 
 
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