561  
FXUS02 KWBC 241859  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
259 PM EDT SAT AUG 24 2024  
 
VALID 12Z TUE AUG 27 2024 - 12Z SAT AUG 31 2024  
 
19Z UPDATE: OVERALL, THE 12Z MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT ACROSS  
MOST AREAS OF THE COUNTRY, WITH THE CONTINUING EXCEPTION ACROSS THE  
DAKOTAS AND MINNESOTA WHERE THE GFS GUIDANCE REMAINS MORE  
PROGRESSIVE WITH THE LEADING SHORTWAVE ON TUESDAY. THE 12Z RUN HAS  
TRENDED SLIGHTLY SLOWER AND CLOSER TO THE NON-NCEP CONSENSUS, BUT  
STILL ON THE FASTER SIDE OF THE GUIDANCE. MODEL AGREEMENT IS BETTER  
FOR THE LARGER TROUGH/CLOSED LOW DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTHERN  
ROCKIES BEHIND THIS FIRST LOW, WITH THE CMC THE MOST AMPLIFIED WITH  
IT GOING INTO THE END OF THE WEEK. THE GFS DIFFERS ACROSS THE  
NORTHEAST WITH A TRAILING UPPER LOW THAT THE OTHER GUIDANCE DOES  
NOT HAVE, AND THIS LEADS TO A COOLER TEMPERATURE SCENARIO FOR THE  
EASTERN U.S. IF THAT SOLUTION COMES TO PASS. BY NEXT WEEKEND, BROAD  
CYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT WILL BE LIKELY ACROSS THE NORTH-CENTRAL U.S.  
AND SOUTHERN CANADA, AND A RIDGE AXIS TRIES TO BUILD ACROSS THE  
INTERMOUNTAIN WEST. THE ENSEMBLE MEANS WERE GRADUALLY INCREASED TO  
ABOUT 40% BY THE END OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. THE PREVIOUS FORECAST  
DISCUSSION IS APPENDED BELOW FOR REFERENCE. /HAMRICK  
-------------  
   
..OVERVIEW
 
 
EXPECT THE STRONG UPPER RIDGE OVER THE MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY  
AS OF EARLY TUESDAY TO DRIFT SOUTHEAST WITH TIME, GRADUALLY  
WEAKENING AS IT DRIFTS OFF THE SOUTHEAST COAST TOWARD THE END OF  
THE WEEK. THIS SHOULD PROMOTE A SIMILAR DRIFT AND EVENTUAL  
MODERATION OF TUESDAY'S HOT TEMPERATURES OVER THE EAST-CENTRAL U.S.  
MEANWHILE A NORTHERN PLAINS SHORTWAVE SHOULD ROUND THE TOP OF THE  
RIDGE BUT STILL WITH A FAIR DEGREE OF UNCERTAINTY FOR SPECIFICS AS  
IT BRUSHES THE GREAT LAKES/NORTHEAST. MOST GUIDANCE STILL HAS A  
STRONG UPPER TROUGH COMING INTO THE NORTHWEST U.S. AND WESTERN  
CANADA BY TUESDAY AND CONTINUING ONWARD THEREAFTER, BRINGING SOME  
COOL DAYTIME HIGHS TO AREAS FROM THE NORTHWEST INTO NORTHERN HIGH  
PLAINS TUESDAY- THURSDAY. UPSTREAM ENERGY MAY LEAD TO SOME  
BROADENING OF THE OVERALL MEAN TROUGH BY NEXT SATURDAY. AN UPPER  
RIDGE WILL LIKELY BUILD OVER MORE OF THE WEST BY LATE WEEK AFTER  
THE INITIAL TROUGH'S DEPARTURE. THE LEADING NORTHERN TIER  
SHORTWAVE/SURFACE REFLECTION AND THEN THE COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED  
WITH THE ADVANCING WESTERN NORTH AMERICA TROUGH WILL PRODUCE AREAS  
OF RAINFALL OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE COUNTRY. DIURNAL  
CONVECTION SHOULD CONTINUE OVER THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES AND ALONG THE  
GULF COAST.  
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
BASED ON 12Z/18Z GUIDANCE, THE UPDATED FORECAST MAINTAINED A  
PREFERENCE FOR RECENT ECMWF/UKMET/CMC RUNS AND THE ECENS/CMCENS  
MEANS. GEFS MEANS OFFER DECENT COMPARISONS FOR THE OVERALL PATTERN  
TOWARD THE END OF THE PERIOD THOUGH. GFS RUNS HAVE CONTINUED TO  
HAVE DIFFICULTY IN RESOLVING THE LEADING SHORTWAVE TRACKING OUT OF  
THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND EVENTUAL EVOLUTION OF THE VIGOROUS TROUGH  
TRACKING EASTWARD FROM WESTERN NORTH AMERICA.  
 
THE 18Z GFS HAD A FAIRLY NOVEL SOLUTION OF COMBINING ITS  
EXCESSIVELY PROGRESSIVE NORTHERN TIER SHORTWAVE ENERGY WITH  
AMPLIFYING EASTERN CANADA DYNAMICS TO PRODUCE A DEEP AND SLOW  
MOVING UPPER LOW NEAR NEW ENGLAND AND NOVA SCOTIA LATE IN THE WEEK.  
OTHER DYNAMICAL AND MACHINE LEARNING (ML) MODELS OFFERED MINIMAL  
SUPPORT FOR THAT SCENARIO. THE NEW 00Z GFS HAS FINALLY ADJUSTED A  
LOT CLOSER TO OTHER GUIDANCE IN PRINCIPLE. STILL, THERE IS QUITE A  
BIT OF SPREAD FOR SHORTWAVE SPECIFICS AS IT CONTINUES  
EAST/SOUTHEAST--RANGING BETWEEN SHEARING OUT TO STAYING FAIRLY WELL  
DEFINED AS IT CROSSES NEW ENGLAND.  
 
THE GFS HAD BEEN STARTING TO GET CLOSER TO OTHER GUIDANCE FOR THE  
ULTIMATE EVOLUTION OF THE SOUTHERN CANADA/NORTHERN TIER U.S. UPPER  
TROUGH AND EMBEDDED LOW BY THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK, BUT THE NEW  
00Z GFS HAS RETURNED TO SPLITTING ENERGY IN A FASHION NOT  
SUGGESTED BY OTHER DYNAMICAL AND ML MODELS OR THE ENSEMBLE MEANS  
(INCLUDING THE GEFS). THIS ISSUE ALSO AFFECTS SOME FINER DETAILS OF  
THE PATTERN OVER THE ROCKIES BY THURSDAY.  
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
THE STRONG UPPER RIDGE INITIALLY OVER THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY WILL  
SUPPORT A BROAD AREA OF ANOMALOUS HEAT ON TUESDAY, FOLLOWED BY A  
VERY GRADUAL SOUTHEASTWARD SUPPRESSION CORRESPONDING TO THE  
RIDGE'S MOVEMENT AND EVENTUAL WEAKENING. SOME AREAS MAY SEE ONE OR  
MORE DAYS WITH HIGHS UP TO 10-15 ABOVE NORMAL (AND A FEW DAILY  
RECORDS) TUESDAY INTO THURSDAY OR FRIDAY, WITH GREATEST ANOMALIES  
FINALLY DECLINING TO PLUS 5-10F RANGE BY NEXT SATURDAY.  
EXPERIMENTAL HEATRISK CONTINUES TO SHOW A FAIRLY BROAD AREA OF  
MODERATE TO MAJOR LEVEL IMPACTS WITH SMALL EMBEDDED POCKETS OF  
EXTREME. IN CONTRAST, THE STRONG UPPER TROUGH PROGRESSING EASTWARD  
FROM THE NORTHWEST PRODUCE BELOW NORMAL HIGHS FROM THE NORTHWEST  
INTO THE NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS TUESDAY-THURSDAY WITH SOME MINUS  
10-15F ANOMALIES. EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO REBOUND TO ABOVE NORMAL  
LEVELS OVER THE NORTHWEST BY LATE WEEK AS UPPER RIDGING BUILDS INTO  
THE REGION.  
 
DURING THE 12Z TUESDAY-12Z WEDNESDAY PERIOD COVERED BY THE DAY 4  
EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOK, A MARGINAL RISK AREA REMAINS IN PLACE  
OVER PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES GIVEN ADEQUATE  
MOISTURE/INSTABILITY, GFS/ECMWF QPF SIGNALS, AND LIKELY EXISTENCE  
OF SHORTWAVE IMPULSES ALOFT, AND A DAY 5 MARGINAL WAS ALSO ADDED  
FOR A SLIGHTLY SMALLER PORTION OF THIS REGION.  
 
FARTHER NORTH, A LEADING NORTHERN TIER SHORTWAVE MAY STILL PRODUCE  
SOME CONVECTION NEAR THE UPPER GREAT LAKES EARLY TUESDAY BUT  
WITHOUT A SUFFICIENTLY STRONG SIGNAL FOR A RISK AREA IN THE DAY 4  
ERO. SOME CONVECTION WILL LIKELY EXTEND EASTWARD/SOUTHEASTWARD  
INTO PARTS OF THE NORTHEAST/MID-ATLANTIC BY WEDNESDAY, BUT AT THIS  
TIME GUIDANCE SIGNALS FOR LOCATION AND MAGNITUDE OF RAINFALL ARE  
TOO INCOHERENT TO MERIT A RISK AREA IN THE DAY 5 ERO. ON THE OTHER  
HAND, THE DAY 5 ERO HAS MAINTAINED A MARGINAL RISK AREA COVERING  
MUCH OF MINNESOTA/EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND FAR NORTHEASTERN SOUTH  
DAKOTA AS THE STRONG WESTERN NORTH AMERICA UPPER TROUGH APPROACHES,  
WITH THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT AS WELL AS A LEADING WARM FRONT  
HELPING TO FOCUS CONVECTION.  
 
CONTINUED EASTWARD PROGRESSION OF THE PLAINS COLD FRONT AFTER EARLY  
THURSDAY SHOULD BRING AREAS OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS INTO THE  
EASTERN PART OF THE COUNTRY BY LATE WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND. SOME  
CONVECTION MAY PERSIST OVER AND NEAR THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES LATE IN  
THE WEEK. EXPECT EPISODES OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE  
GULF COAST THROUGH THE PERIOD, WHILE SOUTHERN FLORIDA COULD SEE  
SOME INCREASE OF MOISTURE TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK.  
 
RAUSCH/HAMRICK  
 
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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