547  
FXUS02 KWBC 231931  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
331 PM EDT MON SEP 23 2024  
 
VALID 12Z THU SEP 26 2024 - 12Z MON SEP 30 2024  
 
...POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE NINE BRINGS HEAVY RAIN, HIGH WIND,  
AND COASTAL FLOODING THREAT TO THE CENTRAL TO EASTERN GULF  
COAST/SOUTHEAST LATE WEEK...  
 
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT  
 
ALL EYES WILL BE ON THE PATTERN OVER THE EASTERN U.S. WITH THE  
APPROACH OF NEWLY INITIATED POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE NINE DURING  
THE FIRST PART OF THE PERIOD LATER THIS WEEK. GUIDANCE HAS COME  
INTO BETTER AGREEMENT IN DEPICTING A SPLIT FLOW PATTERN WITH AN  
UPPER-TROUGH LIFTING NORTHWARD OVER THE NORTHEAST AS A CUT-OFF  
UPPER-LOW DROPS SOUTHWARD OVER THE MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY/OZARKS  
REGION/ARKLATEX. THIS UPPER-LOW THEN LINGERS IN THE GENERAL  
VICINITY INTO THE WEEKEND AS UPPER-RIDGING MOVES IN TO THE NORTH  
OVER THE GREAT LAKES/SOUTHEASTERN CANADA. AT THE SAME TIME, THE  
OFFICIAL NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER (NHC) FORECAST TRACK FOR  
POTENTIAL CYCLONE NINE BRINGS THE SYSTEM NORTHWARD ACROSS THE  
FLORIDA PANHANDLE/BIG BEND REGION AND INTO THE SOUTHEAST ON  
THURSDAY. THE GFS/ECMWF HAVE TRENDED OVER THE PAST FEW RUNS TO  
CONSISTENTLY DEPICT POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE NINE REMAINING A  
SEPARATE ENTITY FOR A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME AFTER MOVING INLAND,  
MOVING NORTHWARD INTO THE APPALACHIANS/UPPER OHIO VALLEY THROUGH  
THE DAY FRIDAY. THE SYSTEM IS THEN EVENTUALLY ABSORBED INTO THE  
UPPER-LOW BY EARLY SATURDAY OVER THE MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. THE  
CMC REMAINS AN OUTLIER WITH THE UPPER-LOW ABSORBING THE SYSTEM  
FASTER. SPECIFICS ON THE EXACT TRACK OF THE SYSTEM, THE UPPER-LOW  
TO THE WEST, AND THE TIMING IN WHICH THE ENERGY IS ABSORBED WILL BE  
IMPORTANT TO THE OVERALL QPF FOOTPRINT, WHICH WILL LIKELY STRETCH  
FROM THE SOUTHEAST NORTH INTO THE SOUTHERN/CENTRAL APPALACHIANS AND  
WESTWARD THROUGH THE OHIO VALLEY INTO THE OZARKS REGION.  
UNCERTAINTY GROWS RATHER RAPIDLY LATER FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY  
ESPECIALLY WITH WESTWARD EXTENT, WITH UPDATED 00Z GUIDANCE SHOWING  
A NORTHWARD TREND, ESPECIALLY WITH RESPECT TO THE ENSEMBLE MEANS.  
THE DEGREE OF UPPER-RIDGING TO THE NORTH OF THE SYSTEM BECOMES LESS  
CLEAR BY EARLY SATURDAY AS WELL WHICH WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON  
EXACTLY HOW FAR THE ASSOCIATED RAINFALL EXTENDS NORTHWARD.  
 
THE POSITION/STRENGTH OF THE UPPER-LOW NOT SURPRISINGLY BECOMES  
LESS DEFINED BY THE LATTER PART OF THE PERIOD LATE THIS  
WEEKEND/EARLY NEXT WEEK. DIFFERENCES INCREASE WITH THE OVERALL  
PATTERN ELSEWHERE BY THE END OF THE PERIOD AS WELL WITH THE  
POTENTIAL FOR MORE AMPLIFIED NORTHERN-STREAM SHORTWAVE ENERGY OVER  
THE NORTHERN ROCKIES/HIGH PLAINS SUGGESTED BY THE DETERMINISTIC  
GUIDANCE, PARTICULARLY THE GFS. THE 06Z GFS IS ALSO MORE AGGRESSIVE  
WITH A CUTOFF LOW DROPPING SOUTHWARD ALONG THE WEST COAST LATE IN  
THE PERIOD. THE UPDATED WPC FORECAST INCLUDES A BLEND OF THE 00Z  
GFS/ECMWF/UKMET EARLY IN THE PERIOD GIVEN GOOD OVERALL AGREEMENT  
WITH RESPECT TO THE TRACK OF POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE NINE AND  
THE HANDLING OF THE CUTOFF LOW TO THE WEST. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE  
GEFS/ECENS MEANS ARE INCLUDED AND THE GFS IS REMOVED BY THE LATTER  
PART OF THE PERIOD AS UNCERTAINTY WITH THE OVERALL PATTERN GROWS  
AND THE GFS DIVERGES FROM THE ECMWF/ENSEMBLE MEAN SOLUTIONS IN THE  
WEST.  
 
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS  
 
THE NHC AND THE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER AMONG OTHERS CONTINUE TO  
MONITOR NEWLY INITIATED POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE NINE. THE  
OFFICIAL NHC TRACK BRINGS THE SYSTEM NORTHWARD INTO THE GULF OF  
MEXICO TO THREATEN MARITIME INTERESTS AND THE CENTRAL TO EASTERN  
GULF COAST/SOUTHEAST MID-LATE WEEK, WITH THE SYSTEM POTENTIALLY  
MOVING INLAND BY LATER THURSDAY. CONFIDENCE IS GROWING IN A LARGE  
SYSTEM THAT WILL BRING SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL/WINDS/SURF/COASTAL  
FLOODING FOR THE CENTRAL TO EASTERN GULF COAST/FLORIDA, WITH  
IMPACTFUL WEATHER POSSIBLE THROUGH THE SOUTHEAST AND VICINITY LATE  
WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND. THERE HAS BEEN AN OVERALL FASTER TREND IN  
RECENT GUIDANCE. FOR DAY 4/THURSDAY, THERE ARE EXPANSIVE WPC  
MARGINAL AND SLIGHT RISK EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OUTLOOK (ERO) AREAS  
SPREAD NORTHWARD ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST BOTH WITH ADVANCE MOISTURE  
FEED INLAND AND WITH THE EXPECTED LANDFALL OF THE SYSTEM. A  
TARGETED MODERATE RISK HAS BEEN INTRODUCED FOR THE FLORIDA  
PANHANDLE/BIG BEND REGION INTO SOUTHWESTERN GEORGIA WHERE  
CONFIDENCE IS HIGHEST FOR MORE SIGNIFICANT FLOODING IMPACTS NEAR  
THE EXPECTED SYSTEM TRACK AFTER LANDFALL. ADDITIONAL EXPANSION OF  
THE MODERATE RISK FURTHER INLAND IS POSSIBLE AS CONFIDENCE IN THE  
SYSTEM TRACK GROWS, PARTICULARLY FOR UPSLOPE PORTIONS OF THE  
SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS. THE THREAT WOULD CONTINUE FOR DAY 5/FRIDAY  
WITH SYSTEM PROXIMITY AND MOISTURE FEED INTO THE SOUTHERN  
APPALACHIANS AS WELL AS OVER THE OZARK REGION UNDER THE INFLUENCE  
OF THE SLOW MOVING CLOSED-LOW, WITH BOTH REGIONS COVERED WITH  
SLIGHT RISKS. UNCERTAINTY WITH RAINFALL COVERAGE AND PLACEMENT  
INCREASES SIGNIFICANTLY INTO FRIDAY SO FURTHER REFINEMENT OF THE  
OUTLOOK AREAS IS LIKELY.  
 
ELSEWHERE, UPPER TROUGH ENERGY WILL DIG THROUGH THE NORTHEAST MID-  
LATE WEEK. A WAVY SURFACE FRONT WILL WORK OFFSHORE, LEADING TO  
COASTAL LOW DEVELOPMENT AND EXIT. EXPECT A PERIOD OF ENHANCED RAIN  
OVER MAINE THURSDAY WITH A CLOSED UPPER LOW AND WRAPBACK MOISTURE.  
OUT WEST, MOST AREAS SHOULD BE DRY. THE WASHINGTON COASTAL RANGES  
AND CASCADES WILL BE AN EXCEPTION WITH ENHANCED RAIN AND HIGHEST  
ELEVATION SNOW POTENTIAL LATE WEEK WITH PACIFIC SYSTEM PASSAGES.  
WARMER THAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO TRANSLATE FROM THE  
NORTHERN PLAINS EAST INTO THE MIDWEST LATER THIS WEEK INTO THE  
WEEKEND FOLLOWING UPPER-LEVEL RIDGING, WITH ANOMALIES DECREASING BY  
EARLY NEXT WEEK. COOLER THAN AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED  
CENTERED AROUND THE OZARKS REGION UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE UPPER-  
LOW ALOFT, ALSO RETURNING CLOSER TO AVERAGE BY EARLY NEXT WEEK AS  
THE UPPER-LOW DISSIPATES.  
 
PUTNAM/SCHICHTEL  
 
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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