365  
FXUS02 KWBC 250659  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
259 AM EDT THU JUL 25 2024  
 
VALID 12Z SUN JUL 28 2024 - 12Z THU AUG 01 2024  
 
...HAZARDOUS HEAT TO SHIFT INTO AND NORTHEAST OF THE CENTRAL  
PLAINS...  
...SHOWERS/STORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE OVER PARTS  
OF THE EASTERN HALF OF THE LOWER 48...  
 
   
..OVERVIEW
 
 
GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SHOW THE PATTERN EVOLVING TOWARD A  
STRENGTHENING SOUTHERN ROCKIES/PLAINS UPPER RIDGE BY THE MIDDLE TO  
LATE PART OF NEXT WEEK AS A RETROGRADING GULF COAST RIDGE MERGES  
WITH THE LINGERING RIDGE OVER THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES. THE STRONG  
RIDGING WILL SET UP WHAT SHOULD BE A PROLONGED PERIOD OF HOT  
WEATHER OVER MANY AREAS EAST OF THE ROCKIES, WITH THE MOST  
ANOMALOUS HEAT EXPECTED OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS. SHORTWAVE ENERGY  
EJECTING FROM THE PLAINS/MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SUNDAY ONWARD, AND THEN  
MEAN TROUGHING THAT DEVELOPS OVER FAR EASTERN U.S., WILL SUPPORT A  
BROAD AREA OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS DRIFTING ACROSS THE EASTERN  
HALF OF THE COUNTRY. ENERGY FEEDING INTO AN INITIAL MEAN TROUGH  
ALOFT OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST SHOULD BRING SOME RAINFALL  
TO THE REGION EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS ENERGY SHOULD EJECT EASTWARD  
MID-LATE WEEK AS LARGER SCALE TROUGHING TAKES SHAPE OVER THE  
NORTHEASTERN PACIFIC.  
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
THE LATEST FORECAST UPDATE BASED ON 12Z/18Z GUIDANCE STARTED WITH  
AN OPERATIONAL MODEL COMPOSITE AND THEN TRENDED TOWARD EVEN WEIGHT  
OF THE MODELS/MEANS BY THE END OF THE PERIOD NEXT THURSDAY, ALBEIT  
WITH THE 12Z ECMWF HAVING LESS WEIGHT THAN THE 18Z GFS OR 12Z CMC  
BY THAT TIME.  
 
GUIDANCE IS STILL WORKING OUT THE FINER DETAILS OF THE COMPLEX  
EVOLUTION OVER THE EASTERN U.S./WESTERN ATLANTIC INTO THE FIRST  
HALF OF NEXT WEEK, AS SHORTWAVE ENERGY EJECTS FROM THE  
PLAINS/MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND A FORMING WEAK UPPER LOW JUST OFF  
THE EAST COAST MAY TRACK INTO OR NEAR NEW ENGLAND. AN AVERAGE  
OF LATEST MACHINE LEARNING (ML) MODELS AND DYNAMICAL GUIDANCE  
PROVIDES A REASONABLE DEPICTION OF THIS EVOLUTION.  
 
AROUND THE NORTHERN PERIPHERY OF THE BUILDING ROCKIES/PLAINS UPPER  
RIDGE (WHICH HAS SOME MODEST SPREAD FOR DETAILS WITH LOW  
PREDICTABILITY SEVERAL DAYS OUT IN TIME), THERE IS SOME SPREAD BUT  
ALSO IMPROVING CLUSTERING REGARDING SHORTWAVE DETAILS BY THE LATTER  
HALF OF THE PERIOD. IN PARTICULAR, DURING TUESDAY-THURSDAY THE ML  
MODELS GENERALLY OFFER MORE SUPPORT FOR THE 18Z GFS/12Z CMC/12Z  
ECENS MEAN WHICH SHOW A BETTER DEFINED SHORTWAVE EJECTING FROM THE  
PACIFIC NORTHWEST THAN DEPICTED BY THE 12Z ECMWF. THUS THE LATTER  
PART OF THE FORECAST BLEND UNDERWEIGHTED THE 12Z ECMWF. THE NEW 00Z  
ECMWF SHOWS A STRONGER DEPICTION OF THIS SHORTWAVE. CONSENSUS  
AGREES THAT NORTHWEST HEIGHTS SHOULD RISE AFTER MIDWEEK AS THIS  
SHORTWAVE DEPARTS AND LARGER SCALE TROUGHING DEVELOPS OVER THE  
NORTHEASTERN PACIFIC.  
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
DURING THE SUNDAY-MONDAY NIGHT PERIOD COVERED BY THE DAYS 4-5  
EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOKS, THERE WILL BE A BROAD CORRIDOR OF  
ABOVE-CLIMATOLOGY PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES EXTENDING FROM THE  
UPPER MIDWEST INTO THE SOUTHEAST, WITH THIS MOISTURE DRIFTING  
GRADUALLY EASTWARD. ON DAY 4 THE GUIDANCE SUGGESTS TWO RELATIVELY  
GREATER AREAS OF FOCUS FOR HEAVY RAINFALL POTENTIAL. ONE WILL BE  
OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST WHERE SHORTWAVE ENERGY AND A WAVY SURFACE  
FRONT WILL INTERACT WITH A MOIST AND UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT, WITH THE  
OTHER CENTERED OVER/NEAR THE EASTERN TWO-THIRDS OF TENNESSEE. BOTH  
REGIONS GENERALLY LEAN TOWARD WET ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS. THE  
SOUTHERN AREA EXHIBITS A BIT MORE OVERLAP IN THE GUIDANCE, ALLOWING  
FOR INTRODUCING A SLIGHT RISK (LEVEL 2 OF 4) AREA, WHILE PREFERENCE  
IS TO AWAIT SOMEWHAT BETTER AGREEMENT BEFORE INTRODUCING A SLIGHT  
RISK OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST. NOTE THAT LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND  
SOME FLASH FLOODING ISSUES WILL BE POSSIBLE ELSEWHERE WITHIN THE  
BROAD MARGINAL RISK AREA. THIS BROAD AREA OF SHOWERS AND  
THUNDERSTORMS WILL DRIFT EASTWARD INTO DAY 5, WITH GUIDANCE SIGNALS  
NOT SUFFICIENTLY COHERENT TO SUPPORT ANY SLIGHT RISK AREAS WITHIN  
THE STILL BROAD MARGINAL RISK AREA. ELSEWHERE, LINGERING ACTIVITY  
OVER SOUTHERN TEXAS MERITS A MARGINAL RISK ON DAY 4 WITH NO CHANGE  
IN CONTINUITY WHILE MONSOONAL ACTIVITY AND AN ASSOCIATED MARGINAL  
RISK ON DAYS 4-5 WILL BE CONFINED TO PARTS OF ARIZONA/NEW MEXICO.  
 
UPPER TROUGHING ALOFT WILL TEND TO MAINTAIN AN UNSETTLED PATTERN  
OVER THE EAST AFTER EARLY TUESDAY, WITH SHOWERS/STORMS POSSIBLY  
BECOMING A LITTLE LIGHTER AND MORE SCATTERED BY WEDNESDAY-  
THURSDAY. MONSOONAL CONVECTION OVER THE WEST SHOULD STAY CONFINED  
TO SOUTHERN AREAS THROUGH MIDWEEK, THOUGH IT MAY EVENTUALLY EXPAND  
A LITTLE NORTHWARD DEPENDING ON THE SHAPE OF THE SOUTHERN  
ROCKIES/PLAINS RIDGE AND UPPER LEVEL ENERGY ROTATING AROUND ITS  
WESTERN PERIPHERY. A FRONTAL SYSTEM APPROACHING/REACHING THE  
PACIFIC NORTHWEST EARLY IN THE WEEK MAY PRODUCE A PERIOD OF  
RAINFALL, THOUGH CURRENTLY WITH A FAIR AMOUNT OF SPREAD IN THE  
GUIDANCE FOR INTENSITY.  
 
THE FORECAST PATTERN EVOLUTION WILL SUPPORT AN EXPANDING AREA OF  
HOT WEATHER OVER THE PLAINS AND TO A LESSER DEGREE EXTENDING INTO  
THE GREAT LAKES AND NORTHEAST SUNDAY ONWARD, POSSIBLY INCLUDING  
THE OHIO VALLEY/MID-ATLANTIC BY NEXT THURSDAY. THE MOST PERSISTENT  
AND EXTREME HIGH TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES SHOULD BE OVER THE CENTRAL  
PLAINS WHERE SOME LOCATIONS SHOULD SEE MULTIPLE DAYS WITH HIGHS  
10-15F OR SO ABOVE NORMAL. THE NORTHEAST COULD SEE SOME HIGHS REACH  
10F OR SO ABOVE NORMAL EARLY IN THE WEEK. THE EXPERIMENTAL  
HEATRISK LIKEWISE REFLECTS AN EXPANDING AREA OF MODERATE TO MAJOR  
(LEVEL 2-3 OF 4) RISKS OF HEAT-RELATED IMPACTS FROM THE WEEKEND  
THROUGH NEXT WEDNESDAY, AND EVEN SOME POCKETS IN THE EXTREME  
CATEGORY OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. BY NEXT WEEK. FORECAST TEMPERATURE  
ANOMALIES WOULD YIELD HIGHS IN THE UPPER 90S TO 100S OVER THE  
CENTRAL PLAINS AND UPPER 80S TO 90 OR SO FARTHER NORTHEASTWARD.  
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FORECASTS INDICATE SOME VARIATION OF THIS  
PATTERN MAY PERSIST WELL BEYOND NEXT THURSDAY. MUCH OF THE WEST  
WILL LIKELY SEE NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL HIGHS THROUGH THE  
FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK. THEN GRADUAL STRENGTHENING OF THE SOUTHERN  
ROCKIES UPPER RIDGE SHOULD BEGIN TO PUSH TEMPERATURES SOMEWHAT  
ABOVE NORMAL BY NEXT THURSDAY. LINGERING RAINFALL OVER THE SOUTHERN  
TIER SHOULD SUPPORT NEAR TO BELOW NORMAL HIGHS, ESPECIALLY OVER  
SOUTHERN/EASTERN TEXAS AT THE START OF THE WEEK.  
 
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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