299  
FXUS02 KWBC 281858  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
258 PM EDT TUE MAY 28 2024  
 
VALID 12Z FRI MAY 31 2024 - 12Z TUE JUN 04 2024  
 
   
..GENERAL OVERVIEW  
 
GUIDANCE SHOWS AN EAST COAST UPPER TROUGH AS OF FRIDAY MOVING INTO  
THE WESTERN ATLANTIC/CANADIAN MARITIMES THEREAFTER (WITH POSSIBLE  
EMBEDDED UPPER LOW), WHILE COOL CANADIAN SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE  
PROVIDES THE EAST WITH PLEASANT WEATHER FOR THE END OF THIS WEEK.  
EXPECT A WARMING TREND OVER THE EAST BY EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH ABOVE  
NORMAL TEMPERATURES ALSO GAINING COVERAGE OVER OTHER PARTS OF THE  
LOWER 48 AS WELL. MEANWHILE, A RATHER UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN  
SHOULD BE IN PLACE ACROSS THE CENTRAL U.S. WITH MULTIPLE SHORTWAVE  
DISTURBANCES ALOFT AND SURFACE WAVES/FRONTS FUELING ROUNDS OF  
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS WEEK INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.  
EXPECT THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST TO TREND WETTER OVER THE COURSE OF  
THE PERIOD AS A STRONG JET UNDERNEATH A NORTHEAST PACIFIC MEAN LOW  
BRINGS IN MOISTURE AND A SERIES OF FRONTS. MOST OF THE SOUTHWEST  
AND THE NORTHEAST SHOULD REMAIN MOSTLY DRY, AND THE UPPER RIDGE  
ANCHORED OVER MEXICO MAY GRADUALLY INCREASE ITS NORTHWARD EXTENT  
AND THUS MAINTAIN HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS OVER SOUTHERN TEXAS.  
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT  
 
EARLY IN THE PERIOD THERE IS DECENT AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE FOR A  
PLAINS/MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SHORTWAVE AND SEPARATE NORTHERN TIER  
FLOW TO THE SOUTH OF A CENTRAL CANADA UPPER LOW, BUT SCALE OF THE  
INITIAL PLAINS SHORTWAVE REDUCES PREDICTABILITY FOR SPECIFICS AND  
ASSOCIATED SURFACE REFLECTION. MEANWHILE CONSENSUS SHOWS A PACIFIC  
SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO THE WEST DURING THE WEEKEND. BY EARLY NEXT  
WEEK SOLUTIONS DIVERGE REGARDING THE RELATIVE STRENGTH OF THIS  
SHORTWAVE AND A POTENTIAL UPSTREAM FEATURE, AS WELL AS STRENGTH OF  
UPPER RIDGING THAT MAY REACH THE NORTHEAST. AMONG RECENT GUIDANCE,  
THE GFS/ECMWF AND THEIR MEANS PROVIDED A RELATIVE MAJORITY  
DEPICTING CONTINUED EASTWARD PROGRESSION OF THIS WESTERN SHORTWAVE  
INTO EAST-CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA BY NEXT TUESDAY. THESE SOLUTIONS AS  
WELL AS 00Z ECMWF-INITIALIZED MACHINE LEARNING (ML) MODELS SUGGEST  
THAT LATEST CMC RUNS MAY BE TOO STRONG WITH THEIR NORTHEAST UPPER  
RIDGING LATE IN THE PERIOD. AS FOR THE POTENTIAL UPSTREAM PACIFIC  
SHORTWAVE ARRIVING INTO THE NORTHWEST BY EARLY NEXT WEEK, DYNAMICAL  
MODELS AND MLS ARE SPLIT OVER THE RELATIVE STRENGTH WITH SOME RUN-  
TO-RUN VARIABILITY, FAVORING AN INTERMEDIATE SOLUTION AT THIS TIME.  
 
THE UPDATED FORECAST BASED ON 00Z/06Z GUIDANCE STARTED WITH AN  
OPERATIONAL MODEL COMPOSITE FOR ABOUT THE FIRST HALF OF THE  
PERIOD, WITH GREATER WEIGHT ON THE 06Z GFS/00Z ECMWF RELATIVE TO  
THE 00Z UKMET/CMC. THE REMAINDER OF THE BLEND INCORPORATED SOME OF  
THE 06Z GEFS/00Z ECENS MEANS TO ACCOUNT FOR INCREASING GUIDANCE  
SPREAD FOR DETAILS AT THE MORE DISTANT TIME FRAMES.  
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS  
 
NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO REMAIN ONGOING  
ACROSS MUCH OF THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PLAINS GOING INTO FRIDAY  
AND THE WEEKEND. MULTIPLE WEAK DISTURBANCES ALOFT, WITH THE BEST-  
DEFINED ONE LIKELY DRIFTING FROM THE PLAINS INTO MISSISSIPPI VALLEY  
FRIDAY INTO EARLY SATURDAY, WILL INTERACT WITH A WARM AND HUMID  
AIR MASS AND ONE OR MORE SURFACE WAVES/FRONTS. A BROAD MARGINAL  
RISK AREA CONTINUES FOR THE DAY 4 EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOK PERIOD  
FRIDAY-FRIDAY NIGHT FROM PARTS OF TEXAS AND LOWER MISSISSIPPI  
VALLEY INTO THE MIDWEST. THERE IS AN EMBEDDED SLIGHT RISK AREA  
CENTERED OVER THE ARKLATEX REGION, WHERE MCS ACTIVITY IS MOST  
LIKELY TO DEVELOP BASED ON THE LATEST DETERMINISTIC GUIDANCE. IN  
ADDITION, WET GROUND CONDITIONS FROM RECENTLY OBSERVED RAIN OR  
WHAT FALLS IN THE SHORT TERM MAY CONTRIBUTE TO THE FLASH FLOODING  
THREAT. THERE MAY BE SOME ABATEMENT IN THE COVERAGE OF CONVECTION  
ON SATURDAY ACROSS THE CENTRAL U.S., BUT STILL ENOUGH TO MERIT A  
FEW MARGINAL RISK AREAS WHERE THE BEST COMBINATION OF UPPER LEVEL  
FORCING AND MOISTURE CONVERGENCE WILL LIKELY EXIST. OF THESE, ONE  
OVER TEXAS AND ANOTHER OVER AND SOUTH OF THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY HAVE  
RELATIVELY BETTER CONFIDENCE BASED ON LATEST GUIDANCE. SOME STRONG  
TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO LIKELY EACH DAY. THE POTENTIAL  
EXISTS FOR SCATTERED QPF MAXIMA OF 2-4 INCHES FOR THE FRIDAY TO  
SATURDAY TIME PERIOD FOR SOME OF THESE AREAS THAT GET REPEATED  
ROUNDS OF CONVECTION.  
 
AFTER EARLY SUNDAY, AN ADVANCING NORTHERN TIER FRONTAL SYSTEM MAY  
INCREASE CONVECTIVE EMPHASIS OVER THE MIDWEST FOR A TIME BEFORE  
EXTENDING FARTHER SOUTHWARD. MEANWHILE THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST  
SHOULD TREND WETTER BY THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK, PERHAPS  
WITH SOME TOTALS ON THE HEAVY SIDE FOR THE TIME OF YEAR. LOW-  
PREDICTABILITY SHORTWAVE DETAILS WILL DETERMINE THE MAGNITUDE AND  
DURATION OF RAINFALL ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS.  
 
COOL HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING BELOW-NORMAL TEMPERATURES, ESPECIALLY  
FOR MORNING LOWS, TO AREAS FROM THE LOWER GREAT LAKES/OHIO VALLEY  
INTO MID-ATLANTIC FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. FLOW AROUND THE HIGH AS IT  
SETTLES OVER THE WESTERN ATLANTIC WILL SUPPORT NEAR TO ABOVE  
AVERAGE READINGS THEREAFTER, WITH SOME LOCATIONS IN THE NORTHEAST  
POSSIBLY REACHING AT LEAST 10F ABOVE NORMAL EARLY NEXT WEEK.  
MEANWHILE ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES SHOULD SPREAD ACROSS A MAJORITY  
OF THE WEST LATE THIS WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND. THE WARMTH WILL LIKELY  
EXPAND TO INCLUDE THE HIGH PLAINS INTO UPPER MIDWEST FROM LATE  
WEEKEND INTO THE NEXT WORK WEEK. BEST POTENTIAL FOR ONE OR MORE  
DAYS OF HIGHS AT LEAST 10F ABOVE NORMAL WILL BE BETWEEN CALIFORNIA  
AND THE HIGH PLAINS. IT WILL REMAIN VERY HOT AND HUMID FOR MUCH OF  
SOUTHERN TEXAS THROUGH THE PERIOD UNDER THE NORTHERN PERIPHERY OF  
PERSISTENT UPPER RIDGING ANCHORED OVER MEXICO. THE WETTER PATTERN  
FORECAST OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST MAY BRING HIGHS DOWN TO NEAR OR  
BELOW NORMAL VALUES DURING THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK.  
 
RAUSCH/HAMRICK  
 
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 (QPF), EXCESSIVE RAINFALL  
OUTLOOK (ERO), WINTER WEATHER OUTLOOK (WWO) PROBABILITIES, HEAT  
INDICES, AND KEY MESSAGES CAN BE ACCESSED FROM:  
 
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  
 
 
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