730  
FXUS02 KWBC 251850  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
250 PM 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. DESPITE THE  
RIDGE/TROUGH PATTERN EXPECTED, MID-LEVEL HEIGHT RISES OCCUR  
NATIONWIDE, SETTING UP WHAT SHOULD BE A PROLONGED PERIOD OF HOT  
WEATHER OVER MANY AREAS 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 (PRESSURES, WINDS, AND FRONTS) BASED ON  
00Z/06Z 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. THE REMAINDER OF THE GRIDS USED THE 13Z  
NBM AS A STARTING POINT.  
 
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. A GENERAL MODEL  
BLEND WORKS WELL HERE.  
 
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. CONSENSUS AGREES THAT NORTHWEST HEIGHTS SHOULD  
RISE AFTER MIDWEEK AS THIS SHORTWAVE DEPARTS AND LARGER SCALE  
TROUGHING DEVELOPS OVER THE NORTHEASTERN PACIFIC. THIS SHOULD CAUSE  
WHATEVER LINGERING FRONT EXISTING ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN TO WEAKEN  
OUT OF EXISTENCE.  
 
   
..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 SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT, 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 IN OR NEAR THE  
EASTERN PORTIONS OF TENNESSEE. BOTH REGIONS GENERALLY LEAN TOWARD  
WET ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS. THE SOUTHERN AREA EXHIBITS A BIT MORE  
OVERLAP IN THE GUIDANCE, ALLOWING FOR CONTINUATION OF THE SLIGHT  
RISK AREA, WHILE PREFERENCE IS TO AWAIT SOMEWHAT BETTER AGREEMENT  
BEFORE INTRODUCING A SLIGHT RISK OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST WHERE  
GUIDANCE REMAINS A BIT MORE DISPERSIVE. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND  
SOME FLASH FLOODING ISSUES WILL BE POSSIBLE ANYWHERE WITHIN THE  
BROAD MARGINAL RISK AREA. THIS BROAD AREA OF SHOWERS AND  
THUNDERSTORMS WILL DRIFT EASTWARD MONDAY/MONDAY NIGHT. AN  
INCREASING SIGNAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL FROM SOUTHEAST KY INTO  
NORTHWEST GA LED TO THE INTRODUCTION OF A DAY 5/MONDAY INTO MONDAY  
NIGHT SLIGHT RISK IN THAT AREA. ELSEWHERE, LINGERING ACTIVITY OVER  
SOUTHERN TEXAS MERITS A MARGINAL RISK ON SUNDAY/SUNDAY NIGHT WITH  
NO CHANGE IN CONTINUITY WHILE MONSOONAL ACTIVITY AND AN ASSOCIATED  
MARGINAL RISK FROM SUNDAY INTO MONDAY NIGHT 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 FRONT 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  
WARMER THAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE LOWER 48, POSSIBLY  
INTO 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 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 INTO NEXT WEEKEND. MUCH OF THE WEST WILL  
LIKELY SEE NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL HIGHS THROUGH THE FIRST  
HALF OF NEXT WEEK BEFORE THE STRENGTHENING RIDGE PUSHES  
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.  
 
ROTH/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  
 
 
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.
The Nexlab HPC Page
Main Text Page