514  
FXUS02 KWBC 221853  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
253 PM EDT MON JUL 22 2024  
 
VALID 12Z THU JUL 25 2024 - 12Z MON JUL 29 2024  
   
..WESTERN U.S. HEAT TO SHIFT INTO THE NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS
 
 
...SHOWERS/STORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL EXPECTED OVER THE  
FOUR CORNERS AND FROM THE WESTERN GULF COAST INTO PARTS OF THE  
EAST...  
 
   
..OVERVIEW
 
 
GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SHOW AN EVOLUTION TOWARD A MORE AVERAGE  
SUMMERTIME PATTERN WITH FLATTER FLOW SETTING UP OVER THE NORTHERN  
TIER U.S. UNDERNEATH AND IN THE WAKE OF AN UPPER LOW TRACKING  
ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA, WHILE MODERATE MEAN TROUGHING LINGERS NEAR  
THE WEST COAST. FARTHER EAST, THERE IS INITIALLY GOOD AGREEMENT  
WITH AN UPPER TROUGH PROGRESSING EASTWARD FROM THE GREAT LAKES  
(WITH A LEADING COLD FRONT). HOWEVER DISAGREEMENTS ARISE REGARDING  
RESIDUAL TROUGH ENERGY NEAR OR OFFSHORE THE EAST COAST, AS WELL AS  
FOR WHAT BECOMES OF ENERGY WITHIN AN UPPER WEAKNESS OVER THE PLAINS  
LATE THIS WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND. INITIAL WESTERN RIDGING SHOULD  
WEAKEN SOMEWHAT BUT LINGER OVER THE FOUR CORNERS, WHILE UPPER  
RIDGING OVER THE SOUTHEAST/GULF COAST SHOULD OSCILLATE IN STRENGTH  
DURING THE PERIOD. THE FORECAST PATTERN WILL LIKELY FAVOR HIGHEST  
RAINFALL TOTALS FROM THE WESTERN GULF COAST INTO THE SOUTHERN MID-  
ATLANTIC AS WELL AS MULTIPLE DAYS OF LOCALLY HEAVY MONSOONAL  
CONVECTION OVER AND NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS STATES.  
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
A RELATIVELY STAGNANT PATTERN, COMMON FOR THE SUMMER, WILL SEE VERY  
LITTLE IN THE WAY OF GUIDANCE VARIABILITY DURING THE MEDIUM RANGE  
PERIOD BEGINNING THIS WEEKEND. A GENERAL MODEL BLEND CONSISTING OF  
THE 00Z EC/UKMET/CMC AND 06Z GFS WERE USED FOR DAYS 3 AND 4. THE  
00Z ECE AND 06Z GEFS WERE INTRODUCED TO THE BLEND ON DAY 5. THE  
UKMET WAS DROPPED FROM THE BLEND ON DAY 6 AND REPLACED BY THE 00Z  
CMCE. THE DAY 7 BLEND CONSISTED OF THE 00Z ECE/CMCE/EC AND 06Z  
GEFS. THERE WERE SOME SMALL HEIGHT DIFFERENCES IN THE SOUTHERN  
PLAINS AFTER DAY 5 WHERE TWO MID-LEVEL RIDGES POTENTIALLY MERGE  
INTO ONE. TROUGHING OF A MID-LEVEL LOW PROPAGATING ACROSS THE  
NORTHERN TIER STATES IS CAPTURED FAIRLY WELL BY THE DETERMINISTIC  
THEN ENSEMBLE MEAN GUIDANCE THROUGH THE END OF THE PERIOD. THERE  
ISN'T MUCH IN THE WAY OF QPF SPREAD FROM THE CAROLINAS DOWN TO THE  
GULF COAST AS WELL.  
 
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
EXPECT EPISODES OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL DURING THE LATTER HALF OF  
THE WEEK WITHIN A BROAD CORRIDOR OF ENHANCED MOISTURE FROM  
SOUTHERN/EASTERN TEXAS TO PARTS OF THE EAST COAST. ON THURSDAY, THE  
BEST COMPOSITE OF GUIDANCE HIGHLIGHTS THE REGION FROM FAR SOUTHERN  
VIRGINIA THROUGH THE CAROLINAS INTO NORTHERN GEORGIA/SOUTHERN  
APPALACHIANS FOR HEAVIEST RAINFALL POTENTIAL. THESE LOCATIONS WILL  
ALSO HAVE WET GROUND CONDITIONS FROM RECENT/FORECAST RAINFALL. THUS  
THE DAY 4 EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOK DEPICTS A SLIGHT RISK AREA  
ACROSS THIS REGION, REPRESENTING A SOUTHWESTWARD EXPANSION FROM  
CONTINUITY. WITHIN THE BROAD SURROUNDING MARGINAL RISK AREA  
COVERING THE SOUTH AND EAST, THE WESTERN GULF COAST REGION LOOKS TO  
BE ANOTHER AREA OF SOMEWHAT HIGHER POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY  
RAINFALL BUT WITH A MORE DIFFUSE GUIDANCE SIGNAL AT THIS TIME  
PRECLUDING A SLIGHT RISK FOR THE TIME BEING. ACTIVITY OVER THE  
NORTHEAST IN ASSOCIATION WITH AN UPPER TROUGH/COLD FRONT APPEARS TO  
REPRESENT THE LOWER END OF THE MARGINAL RISK RANGE. SOUTHEASTWARD  
PROGRESSION OF THE COLD FRONT OVER THE EAST SHOULD SUPPRESS THE  
MOISTURE AXIS NEAR THE EAST COAST BY FRIDAY, YIELDING A BAND OF  
MARGINAL RISK FROM SOUTHERN/EASTERN TEXAS THROUGH MOST OF THE  
CAROLINAS IN THE DAY 5 ERO. THE LATTER REGION WOULD BE ON THE  
HIGHER END OF THAT RANGE, WITH JUST A LITTLE BETTER GUIDANCE  
CLUSTERING MERITING A SLIGHT RISK AREA. BEYOND EARLY SATURDAY,  
NORTHWARD EXTENT OF RAINFALL OVER THE EAST BECOMES INCREASINGLY  
UNCERTAIN DUE TO GUIDANCE DIFFERENCES IN IMPORTANT DETAILS ALOFT.  
 
MONSOONAL MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT EPISODES OF DIURNALLY  
FAVORED CONVECTION OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION INTO THE GREAT  
BASIN, WITH SOME SHIFTING OF COVERAGE OVER THE COURSE OF THE PERIOD  
BASED ON PATTERN EVOLUTION. INSTANCES OF FLASH FLOODING WILL BE  
POSSIBLE, ESPECIALLY NEAR STEEP TERRAIN AND BURN SCARS. THE DAY 4  
EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOK VALID ON THURSDAY MAINTAINS CONTINUITY  
WITH A MARGINAL RISK AREA COVERING PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES  
INTO THE GREAT BASIN, WHILE PORTIONS OF THE MARGINAL RISK AREA IN  
THE DAY 5 ERO SHIFT A BIT EASTWARD IN CONCERT WITH PROGRESSION OF  
HIGHEST MOISTURE ANOMALIES AND BEST INSTABILITY. EMBEDDED SLIGHT  
RISK UPGRADES APPEAR LIKELY AT SOME POINT IN FUTURE CYCLES, WITH  
SPECIFICS DEPENDING ON HOW GUIDANCE CLUSTERS RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER  
AND WITH SENSITIVE BURN SCAR AREAS/REGIONS WITH WETTEST GROUND  
CONDITIONS. BY LATE WEEK ONWARD, SOME OF THIS MOISTURE MAY INTERACT  
WITH THE FRONT PROGRESSING ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS TO PRODUCE  
SOME AREAS OF FOCUSED RAINFALL.  
 
EXPECT THE HAZARDOUS HEAT OVER THE WEST DURING THE SHORT TERM TO  
MODERATE/DECREASE IN COVERAGE LATE THIS WEEK WHILE A SEPARATE AREA  
OF HOT TEMPERATURES WILL SETTLE OVER NORTHERN HALF OF THE PLAINS.  
PARTS OF CALIFORNIA AND THE SOUTHWEST MAY SEE HIGHS UP TO 5-10F  
ABOVE NORMAL THURSDAY-FRIDAY ALONG WITH THE EXPERIMENTAL HEATRISK  
INDEX SHOWING SCATTERED AREAS OF AT LEAST MAJOR RISK OF HEAT-  
RELATED IMPACTS ESPECIALLY ON THURSDAY. MEANWHILE, THE NORTHERN  
HIGH PLAINS SHOULD ALSO SEE THE MOST EXTREME HEAT ON THURSDAY WITH  
HIGHS 10-20F ABOVE NORMAL (WITH A FEW DAILY RECORDS POSSIBLE) AND  
BROAD COVERAGE OF THE MAJOR CATEGORY IN HEATRISK. AFTER THURSDAY  
EXPECT THE HEAT TO SHIFT A LITTLE EAST/SOUTHEAST OVER THE NORTHERN  
HALF OF THE PLAINS AND PERSIST INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK (PLUS 5-10F AND  
LOCALLY HIGHER ANOMALIES). VERY WARM TEMPERATURES MAY ALSO SPREAD  
INTO THE GREAT LAKES AND NORTHEAST BY SUNDAY-MONDAY. IN CONTRAST,  
THE GENERALLY WET PATTERN OVER THE SOUTH AND VICINITY WILL TEND TO  
KEEP HIGHS BELOW NORMAL FROM SOUTHERN/EASTERN TEXAS INTO THE  
SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC LATE THIS WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND. COOLEST  
ANOMALIES WITH GREATEST PERSISTENCE SHOULD BE OVER TEXAS.  
 
KEBEDE/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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