979  
FXUS02 KWBC 041858  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
258 PM EDT FRI OCT 4 2024  
 
VALID 12Z MON OCT 07 2024 - 12Z FRI OCT 11 2024  
 
...POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS HEAT WILL PERSIST ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST  
THROUGH MONDAY...  
 
...CHANCES FOR HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE FLORIDA PENINSULA WILL  
INCREASE INTO NEXT WEEK...  
 
   
..OVERVIEW
 
 
THE UPPER PATTERN OVER THE CONUS NEXT WEEK SHOULD SETTLE INTO A  
SLOWER-EVOLVING PATTERN DOMINATED BY MAINLY LARGE SCALE FEATURES.  
AN UPPER RIDGE SLOWING MOVING FROM THE WESTERN TO CENTRAL U.S. WILL  
SUPPORT MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES WHILE A TROUGH SETTLING  
OVER THE EAST (ANCHORED BY AN UPPER LOW THAT MAY TRACK OVER OR NEAR  
NEW ENGLAND) WILL BRING A COOLER TREND. THE LEADING EDGE OF A  
PACIFIC TROUGH WILL PRODUCE GRADUAL HEIGHT FALLS OVER THE PACIFIC  
NORTHWEST INTO LATE NEXT WEEK AND BRING SOME PRECIPITATION TO THE  
NORTHERN PARTS OF THE REGION. FARTHER SOUTH, EXPECT THE MAIN  
RAINFALL FOCUS OVER THE LOWER 48 TO BE OVER PARTS OF FLORIDA, DUE  
TO THE COMBINATION OF ABUNDANT TROPICAL MOISTURE IN ADDITION TO GULF  
OF MEXICO LOW PRESSURE AND A FRONT DRAPED ACROSS THE PENINSULA.  
 
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SHOW SOME TYPICAL DIFFERENCES IN THE DETAILS  
FOR THE EVOLUTION OF THE UPPER TROUGH SETTLING OVER THE EAST AND  
THE ANCHORING LOW. THERE IS SOME QUESTION ON TIMING AND PLACEMENT  
OF THE UPPER LOW AND THE ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW MID- TO LATE WEEK,  
WITH THE 00Z/06Z GFS RUNS NORTH OF THE CMC/EC, BUT A GENERAL MODEL  
COMPROMISE SEEMED TO PROVIDE A GOOD MIDDLE GROUND SOLUTION. TIMING  
OF THE NEXT TROUGH INTO THE WEST AND WEAKER SHORTWAVES AHEAD OF IT  
BECOME UNCERTAIN TOWARD LATE NEXT WEEK. THE 00Z ECMWF WAS A BIT OF  
A WESTERN/SLOWER OUTLIER WITH THE TROUGH AXIS COMPARED TO THE  
OTHER OPERATIONAL MODELS AND MANY AI/ML MODELS. THE WPC FORECAST  
STARTED WITH A BLEND OF THE DETERMINISTIC 00/06Z MODELS AND  
INCREASED THE PROPORTION OF THE ENSEMBLE MEANS INTO THE LATTER PART  
OF THE PERIOD AS OVERALL SPREAD INCREASED.  
 
THE MAIN FEATURE OF INTEREST DURING THE PERIOD THOUGH IS STILL  
EVOLUTION OF A POSSIBLE TROPICAL SYSTEM IN THE GULF OF MEXICO. LOWS  
MAY SPIN UP ALONG THE FRONTAL BOUNDARIES IN THE EASTERN  
GULF/NORTHERN FLORIDA/WESTERN ATLANTIC WHILE ANOTHER FEATURE THAT  
IS MORE CONCERNING FOR FORMING A POSSIBLE TROPICAL SYSTEM (POSSIBLY  
PARTIALLY CONSISTING OF REMNANT ENERGY FROM WHAT WAS ELEVEN-E IN  
THE EAST PACIFIC) MAY EVOLVE OVER THE WESTERN GULF. RECENT 12Z  
ECMWF/GFS/UKMET RUNS HAVE CONVERGED IN SHOWING A DEVELOPING  
TROPICAL OR SUBTROPICAL SYSTEM MOVING NORTHEASTWARD THROUGH THE  
GULF, CROSSING THE CENTRAL FLORIDA PENINSULA SOMETIME ON WEDNESDAY,  
AND MOVING INTO THE WESTERN ATLANTIC FOR LATER WEEK. THIS GENERAL  
AGREEMENT IS RELATIVELY NEW AND IS THUS UNCERTAIN, BUT TROPICAL  
DEVELOPMENT IS SEEMING MORE LIKELY THAN IT DID WITH THE 00/06Z  
MODEL SUITES. IN COORDINATION WITH NHC, DID DISCOUNT THE 12Z CMC  
WITH ITS LOW SPINNING IN THE GULF FOR TEN DAYS, SINCE THIS WAS AN  
OUTLIER AND SEEMS UNLIKELY GIVEN THE CLOSE PROXIMITY TO A FRONTAL  
BOUNDARY THAT SHOULD HELP STEER IT EAST AT LEAST EVENTUALLY. EVEN  
WITHIN THE EC/GFS/UK GENERAL CLUSTER, THERE ARE DIFFERENCES WITH  
THE TRACK AND CENTRAL PRESSURE OF THE LOW, WHICH AFFECTS THE QPF  
AMOUNTS. THIS CYCLE'S WPC QPF AMOUNTS TRENDED DOWN ACROSS THE TAMPA  
BAY TO ORLANDO CORRIDOR COMPARED TO THE NBM BECAUSE OF THE 00/06Z  
MODELS WERE SOUTH WITH HEAVIER AMOUNTS, BUT THIS MAY HAVE BEEN A  
MISTAKE CONSIDERING THE 12Z MODELS TRENDED UP IN THOSE AREAS.  
UNCERTAINTY IN TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE GULF REMAINS HIGH.  
PLEASE CONSULT THE NHC OUTLOOKS FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON  
FEATURES OF INTEREST OVER THE GULF.  
 
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
 
THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL POTENTIAL FOR NEXT WEEK WILL BE OVER THE  
FLORIDA PENINSULA, WITH LOW PRESSURE (THAT COULD BE TROPICAL OR  
SUBTROPICAL) OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO SHIFTING EASTWARD WITH TIME  
BUT WITH CONSIDERABLE MODEL VARIABILITY ON PLACEMENT AND TIMING.  
REGARDLESS OF TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT, ENHANCED/ABOVE AVERAGE TROPICAL  
MOISTURE WILL BE IN PLACE AND FUNNEL INTO A COUPLE OF WEST-EAST  
ORIENTED WAVY FRONTS DRAPED OVER THE STATE. THIS SHOULD PRODUCE  
MULTIPLE DAYS OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL, AND MARGINAL RISKS ARE  
IN PLACE IN THE EROS FOR MUCH OF THE FLORIDA PENINSULA FOR DAYS  
4-5/MONDAY-TUESDAY. HEAVY RAIN POTENTIAL MAY CONTINUE INTO  
WEDNESDAY AT LEAST. POSSIBLE TROPICAL SYSTEM APPROACH COULD FURTHER  
ENHANCE PRECIPITATION, SO STAY TUNED TO NHC AND WPC FORECASTS FOR  
UPDATES.  
 
ELSEWHERE, THE FRONTAL SYSTEM MOVING INTO THE NORTHEAST ON MONDAY  
SHOULD GENERATE MODERATE RAINFALL THERE, AND SOME LAKE-ENHANCED  
RAIN IS POSSIBLE IN WESTERLY FLOW BEHIND IT THROUGH MIDWEEK. A MEAN  
FRONTAL ZONE WITH ONE OR MORE EMBEDDED WAVES SHOULD REACH NEAR THE  
NORTHERN PACIFIC NORTHWEST BY EARLY-MID WEEK, PRODUCING SOME  
PERIODS OF LIGHT TO LOCALLY MODERATE RAIN AND NON-ZERO CHANCES OF  
SNOW IN THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS. WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE  
POSSIBLE AT TIMES ACROSS THE FOUR CORNERS STATES INTO PARTS OF THE  
SOUTH-CENTRAL U.S., BUT ANYTHING BEYOND LIGHT RAIN IS UNLIKELY.  
 
THE STRONG AND PERSISTENT WESTERN-CENTRAL U.S. UPPER RIDGE WILL  
PROMOTE AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF WELL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES OVER  
THAT PART OF THE COUNTRY. GRADUAL EASTWARD DRIFT OF THE RIDGE AXIS  
WILL SHIFT THE HIGHEST ANOMALIES FROM THE WEST ON MONDAY, WITH SOME  
HIGHS AT LEAST 10-15F ABOVE NORMAL, MORE INTO THE PLAINS BY  
TUESDAY-FRIDAY WHEN SOME NORTHERN LOCATIONS COULD REACH 20-25F  
ABOVE NORMAL. EXPECT NUMEROUS DAILY RECORDS FOR WARM MINIMUM AND  
MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES, ESPECIALLY OVER THE SOUTHWEST THROUGH MONDAY.  
HEIGHT FALLS SLOWLY PUSHING IN OVER THE WEST COAST WILL SUPPORT A  
TREND TOWARD NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES BY WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY.  
TEMPERATURES OVER MOST OF THE EAST SHOULD COOL STARTING MONDAY TO  
NEAR OR SOMEWHAT BELOW NORMAL AS UPPER TROUGHING SETS UP NEAR THE  
EAST COAST. THIS MAY LEAD TO FROST/FREEZE CONCERNS ACROSS PORTIONS  
OF THE UPPER GREAT LAKES REGION AND INTERIOR NORTHEAST, WITH THE  
TIMING AROUND THE MEDIAN TO A BIT LATE FOR THE FIRST FROST/FREEZE  
OF THE SEASON.  
 
TATE/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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