506  
FXUS02 KWBC 291859  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
259 PM EDT MON JUL 29 2024  
 
VALID 12Z THU AUG 01 2024 - 12Z MON AUG 05 2024  
 
...HAZARDOUS HEAT FROM THE SOUTH-CENTRAL PLAINS EASTWARD GRADUALLY  
BECOMING MORE SUPPRESSED WITH TIME WHILE BUILDING OVER THE  
NORTHWEST LATER THIS WEEK...  
 
   
..OVERVIEW
 
 
A STRONG UPPER RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. INTO THE SOUTHEAST AS  
THE PERIOD BEGINS THURSDAY WILL CONTINUE TO PROMOTE UNSEASONABLY  
WARM TEMPERATURES OVER CENTRAL PARTS OF THE PLAINS AND INTO THE  
SOUTHEAST. THEN GUIDANCE SHOWS UPPER RIDGING BUILDING OVER THE  
WEST WHILE A MIDWEST SHORTWAVE DRIFTS INTO A DEVELOPING MEAN TROUGH  
OVER THE EAST. TRAILING NORTHERN STREAM FLOW SHOULD MAINTAIN A MORE  
SHALLOW EASTERN TROUGH BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS SETS UP WHAT MAY  
BECOME A STAGNANT UPPER PATTERN SUPPORTING INCREASING HEAT ACROSS  
THE WEST AND UNSETTLED WEATHER OVER THE EAST. THE NATIONAL  
HURRICANE CENTER IS ALSO MONITORING THE POTENTIAL FOR TROPICAL  
DEVELOPMENT THAT COULD AT LEAST COME CLOSE TO AFFECTING LOCATIONS  
NEAR THE SOUTHEASTERN COAST.  
 
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
MOST GUIDANCE AGREES FAIRLY WELL FOR THE LARGE SCALE PATTERN BUT  
STILL DISPLAYS IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES FOR SOME DETAILS. THE MOST  
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES INVOLVE THE UPPER TROUGH CROSSING THE  
NORTHEASTERN QUADRANT OF THE LOWER 48 (PLUS AMPLITUDE OF LINGERING  
MEAN TROUGHING BY NEXT MONDAY) AND POTENTIAL TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT  
THAT COULD TRACK NEAR THE SOUTHEASTERN COAST.  
 
REGARDING THE INITIAL MIDWEST UPPER TROUGH, INCOMING 12Z GUIDANCE  
GENERALLY MAINTAINS THE SPREAD FROM PRIOR RUNS WITH THE ECMWF  
LEANING ON THE SLOWER SIDE AND THE GFS LEANING FASTER. THE 06Z/12Z  
GFS RUNS HAVE ADJUSTED SOMEWHAT SLOWER TO EJECT THE FEATURE THAN  
THE 00Z RUN THOUGH. MACHINE LEARNING (ML) MODELS SHOW SOME SPREAD  
AS WELL BUT ON AVERAGE LEAN SOMEWHAT FASTER THAN AT LEAST THE  
OPERATIONAL ECMWF. BY NEXT MONDAY THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT MAJORITY  
OF DYNAMICAL AND ML MODELS RECOMMENDING MORE OF A LINGERING TROUGH  
ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES/NORTHEAST VERSUS WHAT THE 06Z/12Z GFS RUNS  
ADVERTISE. THE 00Z GFS ENDED UP CLOSER TO CONSENSUS BY NEXT MONDAY.  
 
MOST GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SUPPORT THE IDEA OF POSSIBLE TROPICAL  
DEVELOPMENT IN THE ATLANTIC, AS HIGHLIGHTED IN THE NATIONAL  
HURRICANE CENTER OUTLOOK. THE OPERATIONAL ECMWF AND ITS ENSEMBLES  
MAINTAIN A MORE EASTERN TRACK, BRINGING A LOW NORTHWARD OFF THE  
COAST OF FLORIDA/THE SOUTHEAST BY THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.  
THE NEW 12Z CMC HAS ADJUSTED EASTWARD FROM ITS 00Z RUN, GETTING  
CLOSER TO THE ECMWF IDEA. ML MODELS (INCLUDING THE 18Z/00Z GRAPHCAST  
GFS) GENERALLY SUPPORT SOME DEGREE OF DEVELOPMENT WITH A TRACK  
CLOSER TO THE ECMWF CLUSTER. LATEST OPERATIONAL GFS RUNS HAVE BEEN  
VERY ILL- DEFINED WITH ANY POSSIBLE SYSTEM, WITH THIS SCENARIO  
VERY MUCH IN THE MINORITY AT THE MOMENT.  
 
THE UPDATED FORECAST BASED ON 00Z/06Z SOLUTIONS STARTED WITH AN  
OPERATIONAL MODEL COMPOSITE, WITH A LATER-PERIOD TREND TOWARD A  
MODEL/ENSEMBLE MEAN MIX THAT TILTED A LITTLE MORE THAN AVERAGE  
TOWARD THE ECMWF/ECENS MEAN GIVEN WPC-NHC PREFERENCES TOWARD THAT  
CLUSTER OF SOLUTIONS FOR POSSIBLE TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT. MEANWHILE  
THIS APPROACH PROVIDED A REASONABLE INTERMEDIATE SOLUTION FOR THE  
MIDWEST THROUGH NORTHEAST TROUGH AND REFLECTED CONSENSUS FOR  
LINGERING EASTERN TROUGHING BY NEXT MONDAY--WITH FAIRLY GOOD  
CONTINUITY RELATIVE TO PREVIOUS FORECAST.  
 
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
A WET PATTERN IS LIKELY FROM THE MIDWEST TO THE EASTERN SEABOARD  
LATE THIS WEEK WITH AMPLE MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY IN PLACE WHILE A  
SLOW MOVING UPPER TROUGH AND SURFACE/FRONTAL SYSTEMS ALL  
SUPPORT AREAS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THE DAYS 4-5 EXCESSIVE  
RAINFALL OUTLOOKS COVERING THURSDAY-FRIDAY NIGHT SHOW FAIRLY BROAD  
MARGINAL RISKS ACROSS PARTS OF THE MIDWEST TO OHIO VALLEY AND THE  
NORTHEAST/MID-ATLANTIC. LATEST GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SHOW POTENTIAL  
FOR EMBEDDED MESOSCALE SYSTEMS TO PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL  
ACROSS PARTS OF THE ABOVE AREAS. HOWEVER THERE IS STILL A LOT OF  
SPREAD FOR LOCATION OF HEAVIEST ACTIVITY, PLUS DEPENDENCE ON STILL-  
UNCERTAIN SHORTER TERM RAINFALL AND RESULTING SOIL SENSITIVITY.  
THEREFORE PREFERENCE REMAINS TO WAIT BEFORE INTRODUCING ANY SLIGHT  
RISK AREAS. ALSO, AHEAD OF THE LATE WEEK SYSTEM, A DEPARTING  
SHORTWAVE AND SUFFICIENT MOISTURE/INSTABILITY MAY PRODUCE LOCALLY  
HEAVY RAINFALL OVER NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND WHERE THE DAY 4 OUTLOOK  
DEPICTS A MARGINAL RISK AREA. MUCH OF THE NORTH-CENTRAL U.S. TO THE  
EASTERN THIRD OF THE COUNTRY SHOULD REMAIN GENERALLY UNSETTLED  
THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH THE  
AFOREMENTIONED UPPER TROUGH CONTINUING NORTHEASTWARD AND GENERAL  
MEAN TROUGHING LIKELY TO PERSIST IN ITS WAKE. LOCATIONS NEAR THE  
SOUTHEASTERN COAST SHOULD MONITOR LATEST FORECASTS REGARDING  
POSSIBLE TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THE WEEKEND/EARLY NEXT WEEK  
TIME FRAME.  
 
ELSEWHERE, MONSOONAL CONVECTION OVER THE SOUTHWEST CONTINUES TO  
SUPPORT MARGINAL RISK AREAS ON THE DAYS 4 AND 5 EROS. CHANCES FOR  
CONVECTION MAY EXPAND NORTHEASTWARD LATE THIS WEEK DEPENDING ON THE  
SHAPE OF THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES/PLAINS RIDGE AND UPPER LEVEL ENERGY  
ROTATING AROUND ITS WESTERN PERIPHERY. THUS THE DAY 4/THURSDAY  
MARGINAL RISK EXPANDS A BIT NORTHWARD INTO SOUTHERN COLORADO, AND  
RAIN CHANCES INCREASE INTO THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS BY FRIDAY. FROM  
THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK, FLOW BETWEEN THE UPPER RIDGE AND  
A WEAK TROUGH SETTING UP OFF THE WEST COAST MAY SUPPORT A  
NORTHWESTWARD/NORTHWARD EXPANSION OF SCATTERED CONVECTION.  
 
THE HEAT WAVE OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS EARLY THIS WEEK SHOULD  
CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY, WITH DAYTIME HIGHS AROUND 10F ABOVE  
NORMAL AND WIDESPREAD MAJOR TO LOCALLY EXTREME HEATRISK THREATS.  
AN INCOMING FRONT WILL BRING RELIEF TO THE CENTRAL PLAINS BY  
FRIDAY, BUT HEAT WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST THROUGH FRIDAY  
OR SATURDAY WITH WARM OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES ONLY EXACERBATING HEAT  
STRESS IN THAT REGION. MEANWHILE, MUCH OF THE WEST WILL TREND  
WARMER, WITH LOWER ELEVATIONS SEEING 100F+ HIGH TEMPERATURES.  
SCATTERED DAILY RECORD HIGHS ARE POSSIBLE AND APPEAR MOST LIKELY  
OVER THE INTERIOR NORTHWEST ON FRIDAY-SATURDAY. SHORTER BURSTS OF  
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE ALSO LIKELY FOR THE MIDWEST TO OHIO  
VALLEY TO THE MID- ATLANTIC/NORTHEAST LATE THIS WEEK, WITH PERHAPS  
SOME MODERATION NEXT WEEKEND AFTER COLD FRONTS PASS THROUGH.  
 
RAUSCH/SANTORELLI  
 
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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