156  
FXUS02 KWBC 271848  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
148 PM EST TUE FEB 27 2024  
 
VALID 12Z FRI MAR 01 2024 - 12Z TUE MAR 05 2024  
 
...LARGE SYSTEM TO SPREAD A HEAVY RAIN/SNOW/WIND THREAT ACROSS THE  
WEST THIS WEEKEND AND THE NORTH-CENTRAL TO SOUTHERN U.S. THROUGH  
EARLY NEXT WEEK...  
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
A NON-UKMET BLEND WAS UTILIZED THROUGHOUT THE MEDIUM RANGE PERIOD.  
A GENERAL MODEL BLEND CONSISTING OF THE 00Z EC/CMC AND 06Z GFS  
WERE USED ON DAY 3. THE 06Z GEFS WAS INTRODUCED TO THE BLEND ON  
DAY 4 TO ACCOUNT FOR A WEAKENING TREND IN THE LATEST GUIDANCE  
REGARDING AN EAST PACIFIC TROUGH. BY DAY 5, THE BLEND IS SPREAD  
OUT EQUALLY BETWEEN THE EURO AND GFS DETERMINISTIC AND ENSEMBLE  
MEANS AS WELL AS THE DETERMINISTIC 00Z CMC. THE 00Z EC HAS A  
LONGWAVE TROUGH OVER THE NORTHWEST U.S., WHICH IT HAS BEEN  
TRENDING TOWARD OVER ITS LAST SEVERAL RUNS, WHILE THE GFS AND  
CANADIAN CONSISTENTLY PORTRAY A MORE AMPLIFIED SYSTEM OVER THE  
WEST. THIS CMC-GFS SOLUTION CLUSTER WELL WITH THEIR ENSEMBLE  
MEANS. THE EURO SUITE IS CONSIDERABLY REDUCED IN WEIGHTING ON DAY  
6 DUE TO ITS CONTINUED SIGNAL FOR A LONG AND EVER EXPANDING TROUGH  
ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA. THE CANADIAN AND GFS SUITES CONTINUE TO  
CLUSTER ON THE EVOLUTION OF THIS DEEP UPPER FEATURE SO THEY WERE  
FAVORED IN THIS BLEND. THE AMOUNT OF DISPERSION IN THE GUIDANCE  
WITH RESPECT TO THE CENTRAL U.S. TROUGH LEAD TO A GENERAL ENSEMBLE  
MEAN BLEND ON DAY 7. THE 00Z CANADIAN AND 06Z GFS SUITES ALSO  
SIGNAL A SOUTHERN STREAM SHORTWAVE DEVELOPING AND PROPAGATING INTO  
THE SOUTHWEST BEGINNING ON DAY 7 WHILE THE 00Z EC TRENDED AWAY  
FROM THAT BEGINNING WITH YESTERDAY'S 12Z RUN.  
   
..OVERVIEW AND WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
A LEADING SOUTHERN STREAM UPPER TROUGH WITH ORIGINS OVER THE EAST  
PACIFIC WILL EJECT FROM NORTHERN MEXICO AND WORK ACROSS THE SOUTH  
FRIDAY BEFORE EXITING THE EAST SATURDAY, AND MAY PROMPT A  
MODEST/UNCERTAIN COASTAL LOW TO LIFT FOCUS UP/OFF THE EAST COAST.  
IN THIS PATTERN A SURFACE LOW/FRONTAL SYSTEM ALSO LAGS BACK OVER  
THE GULF OF MEXICO. MOISTURE RETURN THE GULF OF MEXICO AND ONSHORE  
FETCH FROM THE ATLANTIC WILL FUEL AN ORGANIZED AREA WITH ENHANCED  
RAIN/CONVECTIVE CHANCES. LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS MAY FOCUS OVER  
THE CENTRAL GULF COAST LATE WEEK, WITH POTENTIAL FOR A SECONDARY  
MAXIMA OVER THE SOUTHEAST/SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. THESE AREAS WILL  
BE MONITORED FOR RUNOFF ISSUES, BUT NO WPC EXCESSIVE RAINFALL  
OUTLOOK (ERO) THREAT AREA HAS BEEN ISSUED AT THIS TIME GIVEN  
RELATIVELY HIGH FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE VALUES. SOME RAIN/SHOWERS  
WILL LINGER OVER THE SOUTHEAST INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH WEAKER  
IMPULSES, LINGERING BOUNDARIES AND INFLOW.  
 
UPSTREAM, THERE CONTINUES TO BE A VERY STRONG GUIDANCE SIGNAL THAT  
AN AMPLIFIED UPPER TROUGH DIGGING INTO THE EASTERN PACIFIC LATER  
THIS WEEK WILL SHIFT OVER THE WEST THIS WEEKEND. THIS WILL SUPPORT  
CHANCES FOR A MODERATE TO HEAVIER RAIN FOCUS INTO THE PACIFIC  
NORTHWEST MID-LATER WEEK THAT ALONG WITH A MODERATE LONG FETCH  
MOISTURE PLUME/ATMOSPHERIC RIVER WILL SHIFT STEADILY DOWN THE  
COAST THROUGH SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LATER WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND  
BEFORE EASING. THE WPC DAY 4/FRIDAY AND DAY 5/SATURDAY EROS SHIFT  
MARGINAL RISK AREAS SOUTHWARD FROM SW OREGON THROUGH SOUTHERN  
CALIFORNIA. THERE IS ALSO A SIGNIFICANT THREAT FOR HIGH WINDS AND  
VERY HEAVY SNOW TO SPREAD INLAND ACROSS THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST AND  
ROCKIES, ESPECIALLY FOR FAVORED TERRAIN/MOUNTAINS AS HIGHLIGHTED  
IN THE WPC WINTER WEATHER OUTLOOK (WWO). CONFIDENCE CONTINUES TO  
INCREASE IN THE RISK FOR MODERATE TO EXTREMELY DISRUPTIVE HIGH  
SNOWFALL RATES/BLOWING SNOW, PARTICULARLY FOR THE SIERRA NEVADA.  
ADDITIONALLY, VALLEY SNOWFALLS MAY DEVELOP MORE OVER TIME AS SNOW  
LEVELS DECREASE WITH UPPER SYSTEM AND WAVY FRONTAL PUSH. THIS  
TRANSLATION SHOULD ALSO FAVOR DEVELOPMENT OF AN EMERGING  
PRECIPITATION SHIELD OVER THE COOLING ROCKIES/PLAINS BY  
SUNDAY/MONDAY WITH PLAINS CYCLO/FRONTO GENESIS. WIDESPREAD  
SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS LOOK TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE  
PLAINS/MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THEN EAST-CENTRAL U.S. WITH FOCUS OVER  
THE GULF COAST STATES INTO TUESDAY. THIS MAY INCLUDE SOME SEVERE  
WEATHER POTENTIAL, AS WELL AS THE CHANCE FOR HEAVY SNOWS IN QUITE  
WINDY FLOW ON THE NORTHWEST PERIPHERY OF ACTIVITY ACROSS THE  
NORTHERN PLAINS TO UPPER MIDWEST WITH LOW DEEPENING AND THE  
DIGGING OF COLD CANADIAN AIR SOUTHWARD IN THE WAKE OF THIS MAIN  
SYSTEM, AS PER THE WWO.  
 
PACIFIC UPPER TROUGH AMPLIFICATION AND INLAND PROGRESSION THIS  
WEEKEND WILL COOL TEMPERATURES OVER MUCH OF THE WEST, LEADING TO  
THE SPREADING OF VALUES AS COLD AS 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL.  
DOWNSTREAM, EXPECT MUCH ABOVE NORMAL PRE-FRONTAL WARMTH LATER WEEK  
OVER THE NORTH-CENTRAL U.S. THAT WILL SPREAD TO MUCH OF THE  
CENTRAL AND EASTERN U.S. THIS WEEKEND/EARLY NEXT WEEK DOWNSTREAM  
OF THE MAIN UPPER TROUGH/LEAD FRONTAL SYSTEM APPROACHING FROM THE  
WEST. SPRINGLIKE MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES RANGING UPWARDS  
TO 20-30+ DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL OVER THE MIDWEST WILL OVERSPREAD  
THE NORTHEAST AND OFFER WIDESPREAD RECORD VALUES.  
 
KEBEDE/SCHICHTEL  
 
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  
 

 
 

 
 
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.

The Nexlab HPC Page Main Text Page