479  
FXUS02 KWBC 250658  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
258 AM EDT SUN AUG 25 2024  
 
VALID 12Z WED AUG 28 2024 - 12Z SUN SEP 01 2024  
 
   
..OVERVIEW  
 
AN EASTERN U.S. UPPER RIDGE WILL REMAIN STRONG ENOUGH TO SUPPORT  
ANOMALOUS HEAT IN ITS VICINITY MID-LATE WEEK WITH SOME DAILY  
RECORDS POSSIBLE, BUT TEMPERATURES SHOULD SLOWLY MODERATE WITH  
TIME AS THE RIDGE GRADUALLY WEAKENS AND DRIFTS SOUTHEASTWARD. THE  
HEAT SHOULD BE NOTABLY MORE SUPPRESSED BY THE WEEKEND. A STRONG  
TROUGH/EMBEDDED UPPER LOW WILL TRACK ALONG THE U.S.-CANADIAN  
BORDER MID-LATE WEEK WITH UPSTREAM ENERGY LIKELY TO BROADEN THE  
OVERALL CANADA/NORTHERN TIER U.S. MEAN TROUGH BY THE WEEKEND. A  
COUPLE COLD FRONTS SUPPORTED BY THE OVERALL TROUGH WILL BRING AREAS  
OF SHOWERS/STORMS TO THE CENTRAL/EASTERN U.S., WITH A LEADING  
NORTHEAST/MID-ATLANTIC FRONT ALSO PRODUCING RAINFALL OF VARYING  
INTENSITY MID-LATE WEEK. AN UPPER RIDGE WILL LIKELY BUILD OVER MORE  
OF THE WEST BY LATE WEEK INTO NEXT WEEKEND AFTER THE INITIAL  
TROUGH'S DEPARTURE. DIURNALLY FAVORED CONVECTION SHOULD CONTINUE  
OVER THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES AND ALONG THE GULF COAST.  
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT  
 
RECENT ADJUSTMENTS IN THE GFS/GEFS CLOSER TO REMAINING GUIDANCE  
HAVE IMPROVED OVERALL CLUSTERING COMPARED TO SOME RECENT DAYS.  
THEREFORE THE UPDATED FORECAST WAS ABLE TO EMPLOY A 12Z/18Z  
OPERATIONAL MODEL BLEND EARLY IN THE PERIOD, FOLLOWED BY A  
TRANSITION TOWARD 40 PERCENT ENSEMBLE MEAN INPUT BY NEXT SUNDAY.  
DETAILS THAT STILL REQUIRE SOME FINE-TUNING INCLUDE SHORTWAVE  
ENERGY CROSSING THE NORTHEAST EARLY IN THE PERIOD AND EXACT  
SOUTHWARD EXTENT OF THE FRONT DROPPING DOWN THE EAST COAST, LATE  
WEEK EVOLUTION OF THE VIGOROUS TROUGH TRACKING ALONG THE CANADIAN  
BORDER, AND SPECIFICS OF INCOMING ENERGY THAT SHOULD SERVE TO  
BROADEN THE OVERALL MEAN TROUGH (WITH LATEST GFS RUNS LEANING A BIT  
TO THE FAST/AMPLIFIED SIDE). BY NEXT SUNDAY THERE IS ALSO A FAIR  
AMOUNT OF SPREAD AND VARIABILITY REGARDING WHETHER UPPER RIDGING OR  
SHORTWAVE ENERGY/WEAK TROUGHING WILL BE MORE PREVALENT OVER THE  
CENTRAL-SOUTHERN ROCKIES AND VICINITY. MOST OF THE MACHINE LEARNING  
MODELS FAVOR A TILT TOWARD RIDGING. CLUSTERING IS BETTER THAN  
AVERAGE FOR AN UPPER LOW NEARING THE WEST COAST NEXT WEEKEND.  
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS  
 
THE STRONG UPPER RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN U.S. AS OF WEDNESDAY WILL  
SUPPORT ANOMALOUS HEAT FROM THE LOWER GREAT LAKES/NORTHERN MID-  
ATLANTIC INTO THE SOUTH, WITH DECENT COVERAGE OF PLUS 10-15F  
ANOMALIES FOR HIGHS. FORECAST TRENDS OVER THE PAST COUPLE DAYS  
VALID ON WEDNESDAY HAVE RAISED TEMPERATURES IN THE NORTHERN PART OF  
THIS AREA AND INCREASED THE NUMBER OF LOCATIONS WHERE READINGS MAY  
APPROACH OR REACH DAILY RECORDS. AFTER MIDWEEK, EXPECT THE SLOW  
WEAKENING AND SOUTHEASTWARD PROGRESSION OF THE UPPER RIDGE TO YIELD  
A GRADUAL MODERATING TREND, ESPECIALLY BY NEXT WEEKEND AS AN  
APPROACHING FRONTS REACHES CLOSER TO THE EAST COAST. DURING  
WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY IN PARTICULAR, EXPERIMENTAL HEATRISK CONTINUES  
TO SHOW A BROAD AREA OF MODERATE TO MAJOR LEVEL IMPACTS WITH SOME  
EMBEDDED POCKETS OF EXTREME. SOME MODERATE/MAJOR COVERAGE PERSISTS  
INTO FRIDAY BUT THEN BECOMES MUCH MORE SUPPRESSED BY SATURDAY.  
 
ELSEWHERE, THE NORTHERN ROCKIES INTO PARTS OF THE PLAINS WILL BE  
THE MAIN FOCUS FOR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES DURING THE PERIOD. THE  
SYSTEM EXITING THE NORTHWEST AROUND MIDWEEK WILL BRING COOL HIGHS  
THROUGH THE NORTHERN ROCKIES/NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS WEDNESDAY-  
THURSDAY. A TRAILING COLD FRONT MAY REINFORCE BELOW NORMAL HIGHS  
OVER THE NORTHERN AND THEN CENTRAL PLAINS NEXT WEEKEND. MEANWHILE  
UPPER RIDGING THAT BUILDS INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL BRING  
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES TO THE REGION LATE WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND.  
 
THE DAY 4 EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOK VALID WEDNESDAY-WEDNESDAY  
NIGHT HAS INTRODUCED A MARGINAL RISK AREA EXTENDING FROM THE  
EASTERN GREAT LAKES/UPPER OHIO VALLEY EASTWARD INTO SOUTHERN NEW  
ENGLAND AND THE NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC. WHILE GUIDANCE QPFS ARE  
STILL NOT PARTICULARLY WELL CLUSTERED, THERE IS NOW A MORE COHERENT  
SIGNAL FOR AN AXIS OF INSTABILITY AND ANOMALOUS MOISTURE TO EXIST  
AHEAD OF A WEST-EAST COLD FRONT SAGGING THROUGH THE REGION. THIS  
SETUP APPEARS FAVORABLE FOR LOCALLY HIGH RAIN RATES AND POSSIBLY  
SOME AREAS OF WEST-EAST TRAINING. MARGINAL RISK AREAS OVER THE  
NORTHERN PLAINS/UPPER MIDWEST (CONVECTION AHEAD OF AN ADVANCING  
NORTHERN TIER FRONT) AND OVER THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES (ADEQUATE  
MOISTURE/INSTABILITY, GFS/ECMWF QPF SIGNALS, AND LIKELY EXISTENCE  
OF WEAK SHORTWAVE IMPULSES ALOFT) ARE UNCHANGED FROM CONTINUITY.  
FOR NOW, THE NEW DAY 5 ERO COVERING THURSDAY-THURSDAY NIGHT DEPICTS  
ONLY A MARGINAL RISK AREA OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST, WITH CONTINUED  
EASTWARD PROGRESSION OF THE CENTRAL U.S. FRONT. SOME LOCALLY HEAVY  
CONVECTION MAY BE POSSIBLE IN THE MID-ATLANTIC NEAR THE SURFACE  
FRONT THAT SHOULD BE STALLING OVER THE REGION, BUT GUIDANCE SPREAD  
PLUS DRIER GROUND CONDITIONS/LOWER STREAM FLOWS VERSUS SOME AREAS  
TO THE NORTH OFFER ADDED TIME TO EVALUATE FLASH FLOOD THREATS.  
GUIDANCE APPEARS MORE MIXED OVER THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES VERSUS THE  
THE DAY 4 PERIOD.  
 
CONTINUED SOUTHWARD/EASTWARD PROGRESSION OF THE CENTRAL U.S. COLD  
FRONT AFTER EARLY FRIDAY SHOULD BRING AREAS OF RAIN AND  
THUNDERSTORMS INTO THE EASTERN PART OF THE COUNTRY BY LATE WEEK  
INTO THE WEEKEND, AS WELL AS EXTENDING SOUTHWEST INTO THE SOUTHERN  
ROCKIES/HIGH PLAINS WHERE AT LEAST A BRIEF PERIOD OF LOW LEVEL  
UPSLOPE FLOW COULD HELP TO ENHANCE RAINFALL. ANOTHER FRONT DROPPING  
INTO THE PLAINS NEXT WEEKEND COULD EVENTUALLY PRODUCE SOME  
SHOWERS/STORMS AS WELL. PERIODS OF CONVECTION WILL BE POSSIBLE  
ALONG THE GULF COAST THROUGH THE PERIOD, WITH GUIDANCE HINTING AT  
RELATIVELY BETTER POTENTIAL OVER WEST-CENTRAL AREAS. ALSO FLORIDA  
MAY SEE SOME INCREASE IN MOISTURE AND RAINFALL BY LATE WEEK OR THE  
WEEKEND.  
 
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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