977  
FXUS02 KWBC 171844  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
244 PM EDT MON JUN 17 2024  
 
VALID 12Z THU JUN 20 2024 - 12Z MON JUN 24 2024  
   
..RECORD-BREAKING HEAT FROM THE MIDWEST TO THE EAST COAST  
 
 
...HEAVY RAINFALL THREAT OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS/UPPER MIDWEST  
LATE WEEK AND SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS ON THURSDAY...  
 
   
..OVERVIEW  
 
DURING THE THURSDAY-MONDAY PERIOD, GUIDANCE IS SHOWING A STEADY  
TRANSITION FROM A STRONG EAST COAST UPPER RIDGE TOWARD SLIGHTLY  
WEAKER AND MORE ELONGATED UPPER RIDGING THAT SETTLES ACROSS THE  
SOUTHERN TIER WHILE FLATTER MEAN FLOW BECOMES ESTABLISHED ACROSS  
THE NORTHERN STATES. THE INITIAL UPPER RIDGE WILL SUPPORT A BROAD  
AREA OF HAZARDOUS HEAT WITH POTENTIAL FOR DAILY (AND POSSIBLY  
MONTHLY) RECORDS EXTENDING FROM THE OHIO VALLEY/LOWER GREAT LAKES  
INTO THE NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC AND NORTHEAST, WITH THE PATTERN  
EVOLUTION HELPING TO MODERATE TEMPERATURES WITH TIME ESPECIALLY  
OVER NORTHERN AREAS. MEANWHILE THE NORTHERN PLAINS/UPPER MIDWEST  
MAY SEE A CONTINUED THREAT FOR HEAVY RAINFALL THROUGH LATE THIS  
WEEK AS EJECTING WEST COAST TROUGH ENERGY DEVELOPS NORTHERN PLAINS  
LOW PRESSURE THAT WILL AID THE INTERACTION OF ANOMALOUS MOISTURE  
AND A LEADING FRONT. SOME OF THIS RAINFALL WILL EXTEND INTO THE  
NORTHEAST. A TRAILING NORTHEAST PACIFIC SYSTEM WILL LIKELY BRING A  
WELL-DEFINED FRONT INTO THE WEST BY SUNDAY. TO THE SOUTH OF THE  
UPPER RIDGE, UPPER LEVEL ENERGY AND ABUNDANT DEEP MOISTURE NORTH OF  
AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE (SEE NHC FOR UPDATES) WILL BRING THE  
POTENTIAL FOR A PERIOD OF HEAVY RAIN OVER THE SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS  
AND VICINITY BY THURSDAY.  
 
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT  
 
LATEST MODELS AND ENSEMBLES SHOW OVERALL GOOD AGREEMENT ON THE  
UPPER LEVEL PATTERN THROUGH THE MEDIUM RANGE PERIOD, BUT THERE  
REMAIN SOME KEY DIFFERENCES IN THE DETAILS. THERE IS SOME  
UNCERTAINTY STILL IN THE WESTWARD EXTEND OF THE EASTERN RIDGE EARLY  
IN THE PERIOD, BUT A GENERAL MODEL BLEND SEEMED TO PROVIDE A GOOD  
STARTING POINT. BY THE WEEKEND, A SHORTWAVE THROUGH THE NORTHERN  
PLAINS/UPPER MIDWEST SHOULD ACT TO SUPPRESS THE RIDGE SOUTHWARD.  
THE 00Z CMC WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT IN ITS EVOLUTION OF THIS  
SHORTWAVE INTO THE GREAT LAKES/NORTHEAST AROUND SUNDAY DUE TO  
RESOLVING OF DETAILS AS MULTIPLE PIECES OF ENERGY OVER CENTRAL  
CANADA COMBINE IN THE THE OVERALL SHORTWAVE TROUGH. THE CMC WAS  
ALSO NOTABLY SLOWER WITH THE NEXT TROUGH INTO THE NORTHWEST EARLY  
NEXT WEEK, BUT THE 12Z RUN (AVAILABLE AFTER FORECAST GENERATION  
TIME) DID TREND FASTER AND MORE IN LINE WITH THE GFS AND ECMWF.  
 
TODAYS UPDATED FORECAST WAS BASED ON A GENERAL BLEND OF THE LATEST  
DETERMINISTIC GUIDANCE (06Z GFS AND THE 00Z ECMWF, CMC, AND UKMET)  
FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE PERIOD. BY SUNDAY-MONDAY, CONTINUED TO  
USE 60 PERCENT OF THE DETERMINISTIC GFS/ECMWF WITH 40 PERCENT OF  
THE ENSEMBLE MEANS TO HELP MITIGATE SOME OF THE DIFFERENCES LATE IN  
THE PERIOD. OVERALL, THIS MAINTAINED GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE  
PREVIOUS WPC FORECAST AS WELL.  
 
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS  
 
EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOKS FOR BOTH DAY 4 AND DAY 5 (COVERING  
THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT) CONTINUE TO DEPICT A SLIGHT RISK  
AREA COVERING PARTS OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS/UPPER MIDWEST. THERE HAS  
BEEN A PERSISTENT SIGNAL IN THE GUIDANCE FOR CONVECTION TO PERSIST  
OVER THIS REGION FROM THE SHORT TERM, WITH THE DAYS 4-5 PERIOD  
FEATURING GRADUAL NORTHWARD PROGRESSION OF A WARM FRONT AS EJECTING  
WEST COAST TROUGH ENERGY DEVELOPS A DEFINED SURFACE WAVE. IN  
ADDITION TO THE FAVORABLE MOISTURE/SYNOPTIC INGREDIENTS DURING THE  
OUTLOOK PERIOD, PRIOR DAYS OF RAINFALL WILL LEAD TO WET GROUND  
CONDITIONS HEADING INTO THURSDAY.  
 
FARTHER SOUTH, THE DAY 4 OUTLOOK MADE MINIMAL CHANGE TO THE SLIGHT  
RISK AREA DEPICTED NEAR/EAST OF THE BIG BEND REGION OF TEXAS, AS  
GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SHOW AN AXIS OF SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE  
ANOMALIES MOVING EASTWARD ACROSS THE REGION. THE OUTLOOK REFLECTS A  
RELATIVE MAJORITY/INTERMEDIATE SOLUTION AMONG THE ONGOING SPREAD  
FOR RAINFALL MAGNITUDE AND SOUTH-NORTH COVERAGE.  
 
ELSEWHERE, THE DAYS 4-5 ERO OUTLOOKS CONTINUE MARGINAL RISK AREAS  
OVER PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES/FOUR CORNERS REGION DUE TO THE  
ABUNDANT MOISTURE ARRIVING FROM THE EAST AND SOME FORECAST  
INSTABILITY, ALONG WITH SOME MODEL SIGNALS FOR LOCALLY ENHANCED  
RAINFALL. GUIDANCE SIGNALS ARE TRENDING MORE DIFFUSE FOR RAINFALL  
POTENTIAL ALONG THE SOUTHEAST COAST WITH A POSSIBLE WAVE/MOISTURE  
ARRIVING AROUND THURSDAY, SO THE DAY 4 OUTLOOK HAS REMOVED THE  
PREVIOUS MARGINAL RISK AREA. BY FRIDAY, THE NORTHEAST MAY MERIT  
SOME MONITORING AS A FRONT SETTLES OVER THE REGION.  
MOISTURE/INSTABILITY COULD SUPPORT SOME LOCALLY ENHANCED RAINFALL  
RATES BUT ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS SHOULD BE NEUTRAL TO DRY BY THAT  
TIME AND MODEL QPF IS NOT EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH THUS FAR, SO THE  
OUTLOOK DEPICTS NO RISK AREA AT THIS TIME.  
 
FROM SATURDAY ONWARD THE AREA OF HEAVY NORTHERN TIER RAINFALL  
SHOULD PROGRESS EASTWARD INTO THE GREAT LAKES/NEW ENGLAND ALONG  
WITH THE SUPPORTING UPPER TROUGH AND SURFACE SYSTEM. A BROADER AREA  
OF SOMEWHAT LIGHTER RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG AND AHEAD OF  
THE TRAILING FRONT BETWEEN THE PLAINS AND EAST COAST. MOISTURE  
LINGERING OVER PARTS OF THE ROCKIES MAY SUPPORT CONTINUED EPISODES  
OF DIURNAL CONVECTION. THE FRONT REACHING THE NORTHWEST BY SUNDAY-  
MONDAY MAY PRODUCE A LITTLE LIGHT/SCATTERED RAINFALL.  
 
THE STRONG UPPER RIDGE INITIALLY OVER THE EAST SHOULD PRODUCE THE  
GREATEST TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES FROM THE MIDWEST AND OHIO  
VALLEY/LOWER GREAT LAKES INTO THE NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC AND  
NORTHEAST THURSDAY-FRIDAY, WITH MULTIPLE DAYS OF READINGS 10-20F  
ABOVE NORMAL. THIS WOULD TRANSLATE TO HIGHS WELL INTO THE 90S,  
ALONG WITH LOWS IN THE UPPER 60S TO UPPER 70S PROVIDING LITTLE  
OVERNIGHT HEAT RELIEF. DAILY RECORDS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE  
ABOVE AREAS, WITH SOME ISOLATED MONTHLY RECORDS POSSIBLE AS WELL.  
GRADUAL FLATTENING OF THE UPPER PATTERN SHOULD BEGIN TO LOWER  
TEMPERATURES OVER FAR NORTHERN AREAS BY FRIDAY-SATURDAY BUT  
OTHERWISE A DECENT AREA OF PLUS 10-15F ANOMALIES SHOULD PERSIST  
THROUGH THE WEEKEND. MEANWHILE MUCH OF THE WEST WILL TREND  
WARMER/HOTTER LATE THIS WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND WITH HIGHS REACHING  
10F OR MORE ABOVE NORMAL FOR MULTIPLE DAYS. THE FRONT REACHING THE  
NORTHWEST SHOULD BRING COOLER AIR TO THAT REGION BY SUNDAY-MONDAY,  
WHILE SOME OF THE WESTERN HEAT SHOULD REACH THE NORTHERN-CENTRAL  
HIGH PLAINS AT THAT TIME. CLOUDS/RAINFALL WILL SUPPORT BELOW NORMAL  
HIGHS OVER THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES/HIGH PLAINS LATE THIS WEEK.  
 
SANTORELLI/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 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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