221  
FXUS02 KWBC 230726  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
326 AM EDT WED OCT 23 2024  
 
VALID 12Z SAT OCT 26 2024 - 12Z WED OCT 30 2024  
   
..GENERAL OVERVIEW
 
 
PREDOMINANTLY ZONAL FLOW ACROSS THE LOWER 48 AT THE BEGINNING OF  
THE PERIOD (THIS WEEKEND) WILL GIVE WAY TO A MORE AMPLIFIED PATTERN  
TOWARD THE END. A CLOSED UPPER LOW OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL  
FILL AND DIG INTO THE WEST COAST OF THE CONUS THIS WEEKEND. THIS  
SYSTEM WILL BRING COOL TEMPERATURES, RAIN AND SNOW TO THE NORTHWEST  
U.S. THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK BEFORE DEVELOPING A THREAT FOR HEAVY  
RAINFALL AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER PARTS OF THE CENTRAL U.S. BY MID-  
WEEK. A PRONOUNCED DOWNSTREAM RIDGE WILL GENERATE ABOVE AVERAGE  
TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE PLAINS AND MISSISSIPPI VALLEY BEGINNING  
MONDAY.  
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT
 
 
MODELS ARE IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT REGARDING THE OVERALL SYNOPTIC  
PATTERN ACROSS THE CONUS DURING THE MEDIUM RANGE PERIOD. THE  
DETERMINISTIC EURO AND GFS GUIDANCE HAVE TRENDED SLOWER WITH THE  
DIGGING EAST PACIFIC TROUGH NEXT WEEK, WHILE THE ENSEMBLE MEANS  
STILL HAVE SOME TIMING SPREAD. THERE'S PRETTY GOOD CLUSTERING OF  
THE ENSEMBLES ON THE DEPTH OF THE TROUGH, THOUGH.  
 
ON DAYS 3 AND 4 A GENERAL MODEL BLEND CONSISTING OF EQUAL PARTS 12Z  
ECMWF/CMC/UKMET AND 18Z GFS WERE UTILIZED DUE TO THE PREDOMINANTLY  
ZONAL FLOW ACROSS THE LOWER 48 AND LARGE RIDGE OVER THE SOUTHERN  
TIER STATES/NORTHERN MEXICO. THE 12Z ECE/CMCE AND 18Z GEFS WERE  
INTRODUCED TO THE BLEND ON DAY 5 AND CONTINUED THROUGH THE END OF  
THE PERIOD TO MITIGATE SOME DETERMINISTIC SOLUTIONS THAT SIGNAL THE  
FORMATION OF A CLOSED MID-LEVEL LOW OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION  
BY MID-WEEK. THERE'S SOME SIGNAL FOR ANOTHER SPLIT FLOW PATTERN  
OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. ON DAY 7.  
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
 
A COLD FRONT, ASSOCIATED WITH A CLOSED MID-LEVEL LOW OVER THE GULF  
OF ALASKA, WILL FOCUS RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION MOUNTAIN SNOW  
SHOWERS ACROSS MUCH OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND NORTHERN ROCKIES  
THIS WEEKEND. SNOW SHOWERS WILL REMAIN CONFINED TO THE NORTHERN  
CASCADES AND OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS BEFORE EXPANDING INTO THE SOUTHERN  
CASCADES AND NORTHERN ROCKIES ON SUNDAY, THE NORTHERN SIERRA AND  
YELLOWSTONE/ABSAROKAS ON MONDAY AND COLORADO ROCKIES BY TUESDAY.  
BENEATH THE UPPER TROUGH, TEMPERATURES WILL BE WELL BELOW AVERAGE.  
PORTIONS OF THE GREAT BASIN AND INTERMOUNTAIN WEST MAY EXPERIENCE  
MINIMUM TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES BETWEEN 10-20 DEGREES BELOW AVERAGE  
FROM MONDAY TO WEDNESDAY.  
 
CYCLOGENESIS IS LIKELY TO OCCUR ON THE LEE SIDE OF THE ROCKIES  
WHILE THE DIGGING UPPER-TROUGH PULLS MOISTURE FROM THE GULF OF  
MEXICO BEGINNING ON TUESDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY FOCUS  
ALONG A COLD FRONT SLOWLY PROPAGATING THROUGH THE CENTRAL U.S..  
THERE'S SOME SIGNAL FOR A HEAVY RAIN EVENT TO UNFOLD OVER PARTS OF  
THE LOWER MISSOURI VALLEY INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST MID-WEEK, DUE TO  
THE SLOW MOVING UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH.  
 
AN UPPER RIDGE OVER THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL U.S. WILL PROMOTE  
ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE GREAT PLAINS AND  
UPPER MIDWEST BEGINNING THIS WEEKEND. PARTS OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS  
AND UPPER MIDWEST WILL EXPERIENCE POSITIVE TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES  
BETWEEN 10-20 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE.  
 
KEBEDE  
 
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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