925  
FXUS02 KWBC 310710  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
310 AM EDT FRI MAY 31 2024  
 
VALID 12Z MON JUN 03 2024 - 12Z FRI JUN 07 2024  
 
...EXCESSIVE HEAT LIKELY TO CONTINUE OVER SOUTHERN TEXAS, WHILE  
HEAT BUILDS IN THE WEST FOR THE LATTER HALF OF NEXT WEEK...  
 
   
..OVERVIEW
 
 
THE EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK WILL FEATURE PROGRESSIVE SHORTWAVES  
AND FRONTAL SYSTEMS IN THE NORTHERN TWO-THIRDS OR SO OF THE LOWER  
48, LEADING TO PRECIPITATION CHANCES IN THE NORTHWEST ON MONDAY AND  
POSSIBLY MULTIPLE ROUNDS OF CONVECTION IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN  
U.S. THROUGH MIDWEEK. MEANWHILE VERY HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS  
SHOULD CONTINUE ACROSS SOUTHERN TEXAS UNDER THE NORTHERN PERIPHERY  
OF AN UPPER RIDGE ANCHORED OVER MEXICO, TO THE SOUTH OF THE STORM  
TRACK. BY THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK, A MORE AMPLIFIED AND  
STAGNATING PATTERN DEVELOPS, AS UPPER RIDGING EXPANDS FROM TEXAS  
INTO THE INTERIOR WEST (EXPANDING THE COVERAGE OF POTENTIALLY  
HAZARDOUS HEAT), WHILE AN UPPER TROUGH AXIS DEVELOPS DOWNSTREAM IN  
THE EAST.  
 
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
MODEL GUIDANCE IS REASONABLY AGREEABLE AS THE FORECAST PERIOD  
BEGINS MONDAY, WITH A SHORTWAVE OVER THE NORTH-CENTRAL U.S. THAT  
LIFTS NORTHEAST BY TUESDAY WHILE ADDITIONAL ENERGY APPROACHES THE  
NORTHWEST. THIS LATTER FEATURE WILL BE A CONCERN FOR MODEL  
DIAGNOSTICS AND FOR SENSIBLE WEATHER THOUGH, SHOWING MORE MODEL  
SPREAD. DETERMINISTIC MODELS ALL DEVELOP A CLOSED UPPER LOW WITH  
THIS SYSTEM BY TUESDAY, BUT DIFFER CONSIDERABLY WITH ITS  
POSITIONING/HOW PROGRESSIVE IT IS, ESPECIALLY BY MIDWEEK. THE 12Z  
ECMWF IS THE SLOWEST/FARTHEST SOUTHWEST OF THE DETERMINISTIC  
GUIDANCE, WITH GFS RUNS FASTER AND THE CMC IN BETWEEN. THE ECMWF'S  
SLOW TRACK SEEMED UNLIKELY CONSIDERING THAT THE EC-BASED AI/MACHINE  
LEARNING MODELS WERE ALL FASTER/FARTHER NORTHEAST THAN THE  
OPERATIONAL ECMWF. THUS PREFERRED THE 18Z GFS/12Z CMC UPPER LOW  
TRACK. THE 12Z GFS SEEMED AGREEABLE THROUGH WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY BUT  
THEN DOVE ENERGY SOUTHEAST TO FORM A CLOSED LOW ATOP THE SOUTHERN  
APPALACHIANS FRIDAY, WHICH WAS AN OUTLIER. WITH THE INCOMING 00Z  
GUIDANCE, THE MODELS ARE GENERALLY FASTER THAN THEIR PREVIOUS  
RUNS (THOUGH THE 00Z CMC SEEMS A LITTLE ROGUE WITH DIVING AN UPPER  
LOW TOWARD THE MID-SOUTH FRIDAY). THE NEW 00Z ECMWF NOW LOOKS MORE  
LIKE THE OLDER 18Z GFS, WHILE THE 00Z GFS IS EVEN FARTHER  
EAST/FASTER THAN ITS PREVIOUS RUNS. SO CHOOSING THE FASTER MODELS  
MAY HAVE BEEN GOOD FOR THIS FORECAST WITH ONLY THE 12/18Z GUIDANCE  
CYCLE AVAILABLE AT THE TIME, BUT OVERALL THERE IS STILL UNCERTAINTY  
WITH THE TIMING YET TO BE RESOLVED.  
 
MODELS ARE AGREEABLE IN INDICATING AN UPPER RIDGE BUILDING INTO  
THE SOUTHWEST FOR MIDWEEK AND BEYOND. HOWEVER, THERE ARE  
UNCERTAINTIES WITH SOUTHERN STREAM TROUGHING BREAKING OFF IN THE  
EAST PACIFIC WEST OF BAJA CALIFORNIA, AND WITH THE NORTHEASTERN  
EXTENT OF THE RIDGE IN THE CENTRAL U.S. DEPENDENT ON WHERE THE  
EAST-CENTRAL U.S. TROUGH ENDS UP SETTING UP. BY FRIDAY MODELS GO  
OUT OF PHASE WITH THE FLOW PATTERN NEARING THE NORTHWEST, WITH GFS  
RUNS SHOWING TROUGHING WHILE EC/CMC RUNS HAVE RIDGING.  
 
CONSIDERING THESE FACTORS, THE WPC FORECAST WAS BASED ON A BLEND  
OF DETERMINISTIC GUIDANCE EARLY ON, REDUCING THE PROPORTION  
PARTICULARLY OF THE 12Z ECMWF AND EVENTUALLY THE 12Z GFS IN FAVOR  
OF THE GEFS AND EC ENSEMBLE MEANS, WITH THE MEANS REACHING 60  
PERCENT OF THE BLEND BY DAY 7.  
 
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
AN UPPER-LEVEL WAVE AND ATMOSPHERIC RIVER COMING INTO THE  
NORTHWEST WILL BRING HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUING INTO MONDAY.  
MARGINAL RISKS ARE IN PLACE FOR FLOODING CONCERNS WITH THE HEAVY  
RAIN. SNOW LEVELS MAY BE LOWERING SOME BY MONDAY IN THE CASCADES  
AND NORTHERN ROCKIES AS THE SHORTWAVE MOVES OVERHEAD, BUT THERE IS  
STILL SOME CONCERN FOR RAIN AT ELEVATIONS THAT STILL HAVE A  
SNOWPACK, POSSIBLY INCREASING THE FLOODING THREAT. PRECIPITATION  
SHOULD THEN EXIT TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY, WITH DRY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE  
WEST AS RIDGING BUILDS.  
 
AN INITIAL LOW PRESSURE/FRONTAL SYSTEM IN THE CENTRAL U.S. AND THE  
NEXT ONE COMING IN FROM THE WEST WILL LEAD TO ROUNDS OF SHOWERS  
AND THUNDERSTORMS BROADLY ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF  
THE COUNTRY. THE FOCUS FOR POTENTIALLY HEAVIER RAIN IS RATHER  
UNCERTAIN FOR MONDAY AS INSTABILITY ABOUNDS IN WIDESPREAD AREAS,  
BUT THERE STILL SEEMS TO BE A BROAD MODEL SIGNAL FOR  
MISSOURI/ARKANSAS AND SURROUNDING STATES TO MAINTAIN A MARGINAL  
RISK THERE FOR THE DAY 4 ERO. BY DAY 5/TUESDAY, THE FOCUS FOR  
CONVECTION IS A LITTLE MORE CLEAR AS INSTABILITY POOLS AHEAD OF THE  
LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM TRACKING NEAR THE U.S./CANADIAN BORDER AND ITS  
COLD FRONT EXTENDING SOUTH. A MARGINAL RISK IS IN PLACE ACROSS  
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PARTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TUESDAY. AS  
THE COLD FRONT TRACKS EAST, RAIN SHOULD SHIFT TOWARD THE OHIO  
VALLEY AND APPALACHIANS BY WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY. ADDITIONAL WEAK  
UPPER-LEVEL ENERGIES FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS TO THE SOUTHEAST WILL  
ALSO KEEP UP THE POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL STORMS.  
 
NEXT WEEK WILL REMAIN HOT ACROSS SOUTH TEXAS WESTWARD THROUGH THE  
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, WHERE THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES INTO  
THE 90S AND 100S AS WELL AS HUMIDITY WILL KEEP HEAT INDICES IN THE  
UPPER 100S, LOCALLY 110+. TEMPERATURES NEARING OR EXCEEDING 100F  
MAY STRETCH ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS EARLY IN THE WEEK BUT  
SHOULD MODERATE SOMEWHAT BY MIDWEEK BEHIND A FRONTAL PASSAGE. SOME  
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER AT  
TIMES. BUT THE NEXT BIG CONCERN WILL BE INCREASING HEAT ACROSS THE  
WEST AS UPPER RIDGING BUILDS IN. HIGHS BROADLY WILL BE RUNNING  
10-15 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE, WITH EVEN WARMER ANOMALIES OF 15-20+  
DEGREES FOR THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA VALLEYS AND PORTIONS OF THE  
GREAT BASIN. TEMPERATURES SHOULD REACH OVER 100F ACROSS THE CENTRAL  
CALIFORNIA VALLEYS, AND REACHING OVER 110F IN THE DESERT  
SOUTHWEST. PER THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER, THIS HOT PATTERN  
COULD CONTINUE AT LEAST INTO NEXT WEEKEND.  
 
TATE  
 
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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