072  
FXUS02 KWBC 180710  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
310 AM EDT WED SEP 18 2024  
 
VALID 12Z SAT SEP 21 2024 - 12Z WED SEP 25 2024  
 
...HEAVY RAIN WITH POSSIBLE FLOODING IS FORECAST FOR THE CENTRAL  
PLAINS TO MIDWEST THIS WEEKEND...  
 
   
..OVERVIEW
 
 
UPPER TROUGHING CENTERED OVER THE FOUR CORNERS STATES AS THE  
MEDIUM RANGE PERIOD BEGINS SATURDAY WILL GRADUALLY PUSH INTO THE  
CENTRAL U.S. INTO NEXT WEEK WHILE RELOADING. THIS TROUGH AND  
FRONTAL SYSTEMS AT THE SURFACE WILL LEAD TO COOLER TEMPERATURES  
BEHIND THEM, BUT PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR LIKELY HEAVY RAIN ACROSS  
CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE U.S. PARTICULARLY THIS WEEKEND. IN THE  
EAST, UPPER TROUGHING WILL LINGER INTO THE WEEKEND, WHICH ALONG  
WITH WEAK SURFACE FRONTAL SYSTEMS OVER THE WESTERN ATLANTIC MAY  
LEAD TO SHOWERS ACROSS PARTS OF THE EASTERN SEABOARD, ALONG WITH  
ONSHORE FLOW FOR SOME POSSIBLE COASTAL FLOODING. THIS TROUGH LOOKS  
TO PUSH AWAY EARLY NEXT WEEK IN FAVOR OF RIDGING. A STALLING FRONT  
MAY FOCUS RAIN OVER SOUTH FLORIDA AT TIMES FOR PERHAPS NONZERO  
FLOODING CONCERNS OVER THE URBAN CORRIDOR. MEANWHILE NHC AND WPC  
WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR POSSIBLE TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE  
CARIBBEAN THAT MAY SLOWLY MOVE NORTHWARD NEXT WEEK.  
 
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
MODEL GUIDANCE BEGINS IN SOMEWHAT GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE UPPER  
PATTERN AT THE START OF THE PERIOD SATURDAY, CONSISTING OF AN UPPER  
LOW OVER ARIZONA/UTAH, LOW AMPLITUDE NORTHERN STREAM TROUGHING  
OVER THE NORTH-CENTRAL U.S., RIDGING FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS  
NORTHEAST TO THE MIDWEST, AND LINGERING TROUGHING IN THE EAST. BUT  
EVEN OVER THE WEEKEND, SOME GUIDANCE QUICKLY DIVERGES PARTICULARLY  
IN THE WEST-CENTRAL U.S. SOME MODELS PHASE THE NORTHERN STREAM AND  
SOUTHERN STREAM UPPER LOW QUICKLY BY SUNDAY. THE 12Z CMC WAS  
PARTICULARLY EGREGIOUS WITH THIS WHILE THE 00Z CMC IS NOT AS  
DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT, BUT STILL PHASES THE STREAMS WELL BEFORE  
THE GFS/EC CONSENSUS. THIS LEADS TO THE CMC AND UKMET HAVING  
CONSIDERABLE QPF DIFFERENCES, WHICH WAS NOT FAVORED. THEN  
ADDITIONAL ENERGY DIGGING ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE TROUGH AS IT  
MOVES INTO THE CENTRAL AND EAST-CENTRAL U.S. IS ALSO UNCERTAIN.  
SOME GUIDANCE PULLS IT FAR SOUTH ENOUGH TO CREATE AN UPPER LOW IN  
THE SOUTHERN STREAM SOMEWHERE ACROSS THE WEST, BUT WITH VARYING  
PLACEMENT. THEN FORTUNATELY THE 00Z MODEL GUIDANCE CONSENSUS IS  
BETTER WITH THE TIMING OF THE UPSTREAM PATTERN IN SHOWING RIDGING  
ACROSS THE NORTHWEST EARLY WEEK WITH TROUGHING COMING IN BY NEXT  
WEDNESDAY.  
 
MODEL AND ENSEMBLE GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SHOW THE POTENTIAL FOR  
TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE CARIBBEAN, WITH A TROPICAL SYSTEM BEING  
PULLED NORTH NEXT WEEK. GFS AND CMC DETERMINISTIC RUNS AND MANY OF  
THEIR ENSEMBLE MEMBERS ARE FASTER TO PULL THE SYSTEM NORTH THAN  
THE EC DETERMINISTIC AND ENSEMBLE MEMBERS. UNCERTAIN POSITION AND  
DIGGING OF UPPER TROUGHING BY THEN TO THE SOUTHEAST WOULD AFFECT  
ANY LOWER LATITUDE INTERACTIONS, SO WPC AND NHC WILL CONTINUE TO  
MONITOR.  
 
THE WPC FORECAST BEGAN WITH A BLEND FAVORING THE 12/18Z GFS AND  
12Z ECMWF, WITH SMALL PROPORTIONS OF THE GEFS AND EC ENSEMBLE  
MEANS. DID NOT INCLUDE THE CMC AND UKMET GIVEN THEIR DIFFERENCES.  
AS THE PERIOD PROGRESSED, GRADUALLY INCREASED THE PROPORTION OF  
ENSEMBLE MEANS TO OVER HALF BY DAYS 6-7 GIVEN THE INCREASING  
SPREAD. CONTINUE TO MAKE CHANGES TO THE FRONTAL STRUCTURES IN THE  
CENTRAL U.S. AS THE PATTERN EVOLVES.  
 
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
BY SATURDAY, DYNAMICAL SUPPORT FOR THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN  
WILL INCREASE AS THE UPPER LOW APPROACHES FROM THE FOUR CORNERS.  
MODELS THEREFORE SHOW A CONSIDERABLE UPTICK IN RAINFALL AMOUNTS ON  
THE CUSP OF THE INSTABILITY GRADIENT, WITH 3-5 INCHES LOCALLY. FOR  
THE DAY 4/SATURDAY ERO, CONTINUE TO DEPICT A BROAD MARGINAL RISK  
CENTERED OVER NEBRASKA/KANSAS AND VICINITY. THE HEAVY RAIN IS  
FORECAST TO SHIFT SLIGHTLY NORTHEASTWARD ON SUNDAY, PROMPTING A  
MARGINAL RISK FOR PARTS OF NEBRASKA/KANSAS AND STRETCHING INTO THE  
MID/UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY FOR THE DAY 5 ERO. ON BOTH DAYS, THERE  
MAY BE A NEED FOR HIGHER RISK LEVELS WITHIN THE MARGINAL IN THE  
FUTURE IF MODELS ALIGN MORE AGREEABLY ON AN HEAVY RAIN AXIS.  
ANTECENDENT CONDITIONS ARE GENERALLY DRY, BUT HEAVY RAIN RATES  
COULD POSE FLASH FLOODING ISSUES REGARDLESS. MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN  
IS EXPECTED GRADUALLY SHIFT ACROSS THE MIDWEST MONDAY AND THE  
EAST-CENTRAL U.S. TUESDAY. WHILE UNCERTAIN, RAIN CHANCES MAY GET  
RENEWED BY TUESDAY IN THE SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S. AS WELL.  
 
UPSTREAM, THE QUESTIONS WITH THE PATTERN ALOFT CREATE UNCERTAINTY  
WITH THE QPF IN THE NORTHWEST INTO THE WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK,  
BUT THERE IS SOME SIGNAL FOR MODERATE TO HEAVY PRECIPITATION IN  
THE WASHINGTON COASTAL RANGES/CASCADES TOWARD THE NORTHERN ROCKIES  
AT TIMES.  
 
IN THE EAST, TROUGHING REMAINING OVERHEAD AND WEAK ATLANTIC  
FRONTS/SURFACE LOWS COULD PROMOTE SHOWERS OVER PARTS OF THE EASTERN  
SEABOARD THIS WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. THESE SHOWERS LOOK TO  
REMAIN LIGHT, BUT PERSISTENT ONSHORE WIND FLOW MAY CREATE A COASTAL  
FLOODING HAZARD ALONG THE MID-ATLANTIC COAST BEFORE AN OFFSHORE  
LOW MOVES AWAY. THE FLORIDA PENINSULA COULD ALSO SEE SOME FOCUSED  
CONVECTION DUE TO A FRONTAL BOUNDARY IN A MOIST ENVIRONMENT. THIS  
FRONT STALLING INTO THE WEEKEND AND BEYOND COULD INCREASE RAIN  
TOTALS, WHICH MAY CREATE FLOODING PROBLEMS ESPECIALLY FOR THE  
TYPICALLY SENSITIVE URBAN CORRIDOR OF SOUTHEAST FLORIDA. THIS IS  
ALL AHEAD OF POTENTIAL TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT FARTHER SOUTH IN THE  
CARIBBEAN THAT MAY SLOWLY MAKE ITS WAY NORTH INTO THE MIDDLE OF  
NEXT WEEK.  
 
COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES PARTICULARLY IN TERMS OF HIGHS  
WILL BE IN PLACE FOR THE ROCKIES WESTWARD ON SATURDAY AND FOCUSING  
IN THE NORTHERN/CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS ON SUNDAY UNDERNEATH THE UPPER  
TROUGH. MEANWHILE FARTHER EAST, ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES BY 10-15  
DEGREES ARE FORECAST FOR THE SOUTH-CENTRAL PLAINS NORTHEAST TO THE  
OHIO VALLEY AND GREAT LAKES REGION SATURDAY. THE ABOVE AVERAGE  
TEMPERATURES WILL DECREASE IN SCOPE EARLY NEXT WEEK, FOCUSING  
MAINLY OVER THE OHIO VALLEY AND THEN GRADUALLY MODERATING THERE  
TOO. THE EASTERN SEABOARD COULD SEE BELOW AVERAGE HIGHS INTO EARLY  
NEXT WEEK. TEMPERATURES MAY BE NEAR NORMAL IN MOST PLACES BY THE  
MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK, BUT PENDING UPPER LEVEL PATTERN UNCERTAINTIES.  
 
TATE  
 
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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