932  
FXUS02 KWBC 101857  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
257 PM EDT THU OCT 10 2024  
 
VALID 12Z SUN OCT 13 2024 - 12Z THU OCT 17 2024  
 
   
..OVERVIEW
 
 
MOST MODELS AND ENSEMBLES MAINTAIN THE THEME OF AN AMPLIFYING  
RIDGE-TROUGH PATTERN DURING THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK, FOLLOWED  
BY SOMEWHAT MORE PROGRESSION AS A TROUGH MOVES INTO THE WEST BY  
NEXT THURSDAY AS DOWNSTREAM RIDGING CROSSES THE CENTRAL U.S. AND  
EASTERN TROUGHING RELAXES. MUCH BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND  
FROST/FREEZE MAY BE A CONCERN OVER SOME AREAS FROM THE NORTHERN  
PLAINS INTO THE EAST, WHILE THE ROCKIES AND PORTIONS OF THE PLAINS  
WILL BE THE MAIN FOCUS FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. SOME DAILY  
RECORD HIGHS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE FAR SOUTHERN TIER EARLY IN  
THE PERIOD. EXPECT THE MAJORITY OF PRECIPITATION TO OCCUR OVER  
THREE AREAS: THE GREAT LAKES/NORTHEAST IN ASSOCIATION WITH  
DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE AND CHILLY FLOW IN ITS WAKE, SOUTHERN  
FLORIDA EARLY IN THE WEEK WITH A LINGERING FRONT, AND OVER PARTS OF  
THE WEST WITH THE APPROACH/ARRIVAL OF A PACIFIC UPPER TROUGH AND  
LEADING FRONT.  
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
IN TERMS OF THE LARGER-SCALE SENSIBLE WEATHER EFFECTS, THE MOST  
CONTENTIOUS PART OF THE FORECAST INVOLVES WHAT HAPPENS WITH ENERGY  
IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE EASTERN U.S. UPPER TROUGH FROM AROUND  
TUESDAY ONWARD. THE MAJORITY OF GUIDANCE, INCLUDING RECENT RUNS OF  
MACHINE LEARNING (ML) MODELS, HAVE GENERALLY FAVORED MAINTAINING AN  
OPEN TROUGH ASIDE FROM PERHAPS A TRANSIENT UPPER LOW FORMING NEAR  
THE EAST COAST AND THEN CONTINUING INTO THE ATLANTIC. THIS SCENARIO  
WOULD SUPPORT SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE AND DRY CONDITIONS OVER THE  
EAST. HOWEVER CMC RUNS HAVE BEEN PERSISTENT IN CLOSING AN UPPER  
LOW (BUT TRENDING EASTWARD OVER THE PAST COUPLE DAYS) AND SPORADIC  
GFS RUNS HAVE AS WELL--MOST NOTABLY THE NEW 12Z VERSION THAT IS  
LIKE THE 00Z CMC. SUCH A CLOSED LOW WOULD DEVELOP LOW PRESSURE AND  
RAINFALL OVER PARTS OF THE EAST. AMONG THE ENSEMBLE SYSTEMS, CMC  
MEMBERS UNSURPRISINGLY SHOW A GREATER CLOSED LOW POTENTIAL THOUGH  
SOME ECMWF MEMBERS HAVE THAT IDEA AS WELL, WHILE THAT SOLUTION IS  
MUCH MORE IN THE MINORITY AMONG GEFS MEMBERS. THE COMBINATION OF ML  
MODELS, OVERALL DYNAMICAL GUIDANCE MAJORITY, AND MULTIPLE DAYS OF  
CMC RUNS EVENTUALLY TRENDING MORE TOWARD CONSENSUS WHEN DEPICTING  
STRAY SOLUTIONS SEVERAL DAYS OUT, FAVOR THE OPEN TROUGH SOLUTION  
FOR A SINGLE DETERMINISTIC FORECAST. THERE IS ENOUGH OF THE  
MINORITY SIGNAL TO REQUIRE MONITORING FOR POTENTIAL FUTURE CHANGES  
THOUGH.  
 
AS FOR MORE LOCALIZED BUT STILL IMPORTANT DETAIL DIFFERENCES,  
GUIDANCE STILL SHOWS SOME SPREAD FOR SPECIFICS OF NORTHEAST LOW  
PRESSURE DEVELOPMENT BY MONDAY. LATEST ENSEMBLE MEANS AND MOST ML  
MODELS SUPPORT A PRIMARY LOW TRACK IN THE MIDDLE/WESTERN PART OF  
THE OVERALL SPREAD IN CONTRAST TO THE COASTAL TRACK OF THE 12Z  
GFS/UKMET/CMC. MEANWHILE GUIDANCE SHOWS BETTER THAN AVERAGE  
AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPLE FOR THE UPPER TROUGH REACHING THE WEST BY  
NEXT THURSDAY, THOUGH SOME LOW-PREDICTABILITY SHORTWAVE DETAIL  
DIFFERENCES ARISE AND WILL AFFECT THE COVERAGE AND AMOUNTS OF  
ASSOCIATED PRECIPITATION.  
 
BASED ON 00Z/06Z GUIDANCE, A BLEND INCORPORATING MORE 06Z GFS/00Z  
ECMWF RELATIVE TO THE 00Z UKMET/CMC REPRESENTED PREFERENCES FOR  
SIGNIFICANT FEATURES DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE PERIOD. THEN THE  
BLEND TRANSITIONED TO MIX OF THE GFS/ECMWF AND THEIR CORRESPONDING  
ENSEMBLE MEANS, WITH THE LATTER REACHING 50 PERCENT TOTAL WEIGHT BY  
THE END OF THE PERIOD NEXT THURSDAY.  
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
 
THE LOWER 48 SHOULD SEE FAIRLY LIMITED PRECIPITATION COVERAGE  
OVERALL. ONE AREA OF ORGANIZED FOCUS WILL BE OVER THE GREAT LAKES  
AND NORTHEAST THIS WEEKEND INTO THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK, FROM  
A COMBINATION OF THE STRENGTHENING SUNDAY-MONDAY SURFACE SYSTEM AS  
UPPER TROUGHING BEGINS TO AMPLIFY AND THEN LAKE EFFECT/TERRAIN-  
ENHANCED PRECIPITATION BEHIND THE SYSTEM AND UNDERNEATH THE UPPER  
TROUGH. AFTER SYSTEM PASSAGE THERE MAY BE SOME POCKETS OF SNOW OVER  
HIGH ELEVATIONS AND PERHAPS OTHER LOCATIONS DURING THE COLDER  
OVERNIGHT HOURS. OVER THE PAST DAY, GUIDANCE HAS TRENDED LOWER  
WITH MAX QPF TOTALS OVER THE NORTHEAST ON SUNDAY IN ASSOCIATION  
WITH SURFACE LOW DEVELOPMENT (WITH INSTABILITY STILL LACKING),  
FURTHER SUPPORTING NO RISK AREA IN THE DAY 4/SUNDAY EXCESSIVE  
RAINFALL OUTLOOK.  
 
FARTHER SOUTH, A FRONT LINGERING NEAR SOUTH FLORIDA WILL BE  
ACCOMPANIED BY ANOMALOUS MOISTURE AND SOME INSTABILITY SUNDAY-  
MONDAY, POTENTIALLY LEADING TO SOME AREAS OF ENHANCED RAINFALL OVER  
THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE PENINSULA. GUIDANCE SIGNALS ARE MIXED AS  
TO HOW MUCH OF THE HEAVIER RAIN MAY FALL OVER LAND VERSUS OFFSHORE,  
SO FOR NOW WILL MAINTAIN NO RISK AREA IN THE DAYS 4-5 EROS.  
HOWEVER WILL MONITOR FUTURE GUIDANCE UPDATES FOR REFINEMENTS IN  
DETERMINING POTENTIAL FOR LOCALIZED FLASH FLOOD THREATS, KEEPING IN  
MIND INITIALLY WET GROUND CONDITIONS.  
 
THE UPPER TROUGH AND LEADING SURFACE FRONT MOVING INTO THE WEST  
WILL GRADUALLY PUSH PRECIPITATION INTO THE NORTHERN/CENTRAL WEST  
COAST THROUGH THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. WHILE THERE IS GOOD CONFIDENCE  
IN THE OVERALL EVENT, UNRESOLVED SPECIFICS OF THE UPPER TROUGH LEAD  
TO GREATER UNCERTAINTY WITH RESPECT TO THE SOUTHWARD/EASTWARD  
EXTENT OF PRECIPITATION AS WELL AS MAGNITUDE. EXPECT RELATIVELY  
HIGHER TOTALS OVER FAVORED COASTAL AREAS AND THE CASCADES. SOME  
HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE BY MIDWEEK.  
 
AN UPPER RIDGE ALIGNED OVER THE ROCKIES INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK AND  
THEN SHIFTING EASTWARD BY MIDWEEK WILL PROMOTE WELL ABOVE NORMAL  
TEMPERATURES IN ITS VICINITY. PLUS 10-20F ANOMALIES FOR HIGHS WILL  
FOCUS OVER THE INTERIOR WEST/ROCKIES INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK AND  
EXPAND INTO THE NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS BY TUESDAY, FOLLOWED BY MORE  
EMPHASIS OVER THE NORTHERN/CENTRAL PLAINS BY NEXT THURSDAY. HIGHS  
COULD LOCALLY EXCEED 20F ABOVE NORMAL OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS  
AROUND MIDWEEK. THE SOUTHERN PLAINS SHOULD REMAIN UNSEASONABLY WARM  
(AT LEAST PLUS 10-15F ANOMALIES) INTO THE START OF NEXT WEEK  
BEFORE NORTHERN STREAM TROUGHING AND A COLD FRONT SUPPRESS ABOVE  
NORMAL READINGS TO THE SOUTH. DAILY RECORDS WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM  
THE SOUTHWEST INTO THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SUNDAY-MONDAY.  
MEANWHILE, THE CENTRAL/SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE EAST WILL START OUT  
ABOVE NORMAL BUT THEN TREND COLDER WITH TIME TOWARD HIGHS 5-15F  
BELOW NORMAL NEXT MONDAY-WEDNESDAY UNDERNEATH AMPLIFIED UPPER  
TROUGHING. MORNING LOWS NEXT WEEK MAY BE A TAD LESS ANOMALOUS BUT  
STILL COLD ENOUGH TO RAISE SOME FROST/FREEZE CONCERNS FROM THE  
NORTH-CENTRAL U.S. THROUGH THE MIDWEST/GREAT LAKES AND  
NORTHEAST/APPALACHIANS. EXPECT SOME MODERATION BY NEXT THURSDAY.  
ARRIVAL OF A PACIFIC UPPER TROUGH WILL LIKELY BRING BELOW NORMAL  
TEMPERATURES TO THE WEST BY NEXT THURSDAY.  
 
RAUSCH/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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