365  
FXUS02 KWBC 070700  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
200 AM EST SAT DEC 7 2024  
 
VALID 12Z TUE DEC 10 2024 - 12Z SAT DEC 14 2024  
 
***HEAVY RAIN THREAT FROM THE SOUTHEAST INTO NORTHEAST DURING  
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY***  
 
   
..OVERVIEW  
 
MOST GUIDANCE HAS BEEN FAIRLY CONSISTENT IN SHOWING THE POTENTIAL  
FOR HEAVY RAINFALL RAINFALL ALONG PARTS OF THE EAST COAST DURING  
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY, AS CENTRAL INTO EASTERN U.S. UPPER TROUGHING  
INITIALLY PUSHES ALONG A WAVY FRONT AND THEN BY WEDNESDAY ONWARD  
DEVELOPS A STRONGER MID-ATLANTIC INTO NORTHEAST WAVE AS THE TROUGH  
TAKES ON A NEGATIVE TILT. UPPER TROUGHING OVER THE EAST WILL LIKELY  
LIFT AWAY AFTER THURSDAY AS MEAN FLOW FROM THE EASTERN PACIFIC  
INTO THE LOWER 48 TRENDS MORE ZONAL. SUCH A LOW AMPLITUDE REGIME  
TENDS TO DECREASE PREDICTABILITY, AND INDEED GUIDANCE SHOWS A LOT  
OF SPREAD FOR INDIVIDUAL DETAILS FROM THE PACIFIC EASTWARD LATE  
WEEK INTO NEXT WEEKEND. HOWEVER THE DETAILS TURN OUT, THERE IS AT  
LEAST BETTER AGREEMENT WITH THE MORE GENERAL THEME OF INCREASING  
RAIN AND HIGH ELEVATION SNOW FOR THE NORTHWEST. THE AMPLIFIED  
EVOLUTION OVER THE EAST WILL FAVOR A DAY OR SO OF WARM TEMPERATURES  
IN THE FOLLOWED BY A COUPLE CHILLY DAYS, WHILE ABOVE NORMAL  
READINGS WILL BECOME ESTABLISHED OVER THE PLAINS AND VICINITY BY  
FRIDAY-SATURDAY UNDER THE FORECAST ZONAL MEAN FLOW ALOFT.  
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT  
 
REGARDING THE AMPLIFIED EVOLUTION OVER THE EAST DURING THE FIRST  
HALF OF THE PERIOD, MOST GUIDANCE HAS MAINTAINED FAIRLY GOOD  
CONTINUITY WITH THE IDEA OF FRONTAL WAVE INTENSIFICATION FROM THE  
MID-ATLANTIC INTO THE NORTHEAST AND NORTHWARD OVER CANADA FROM  
WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. MOST TRENDS ARE ADDING SOME CONFIDENCE TO  
THIS BEING A FAIRLY STRONG SYSTEM, AS THE ENSEMBLE MEANS HAVE  
TRENDED BETTER DEFINED PLUS THE 12Z MACHINE LEARNING (ML) MODELS  
HAVE ON AVERAGE TRENDED ABOUT 5-10 MB DEEPER BY THE TIME THE  
SURFACE LOW REACHES NORTH OF MAINE BY EARLY THURSDAY. THE UKMET IS  
THE ONE MISFIT, AS IT HANGS BACK THE SHORTWAVE ENERGY IN THE  
SOUTHERN PART OF THE UPPER TROUGH, RESULTING IN A WEAKER/EASTWARD  
SURFACE EVOLUTION. ONE ML MODEL TRAIT OF NOTE IS THAT MOST TRACK  
THIS WAVE A LITTLE FARTHER WESTWARD THAN MOST OF THE DYNAMICAL  
MODELS/MEANS, SO IT WILL BE WORTH WATCHING TO SEE IF THE DYNAMICAL  
SOLUTIONS EVENTUALLY DISPLAY ANY TREND IN THAT DIRECTION.  
 
MODEL/ENSEMBLE SPAGHETTI AND OTHER COMPARISON PLOTS SHOW RAPIDLY  
INCREASING DIVERGENCE IN SPECIFICS BEHIND THIS SYSTEM. A WEAK  
SHORTWAVE MAY REACH THE WEST COAST AROUND MIDWEEK (WITH LESS  
SOUTHERN STREAM CONTINUATION THAN DEPICTED BY THE 18Z GFS). THEN ML  
MODELS CLUSTER TOWARD THE IDEA OF TRAILING ENERGY ARRIVING A DAY  
LATER, AND THEN PROGRESSING EASTWARD AS A DEFINED SHORTWAVE INTO  
THE PLAINS AND GREAT LAKES BY FRIDAY-SATURDAY (WITH AN ASSOCIATED  
SURFACE SYSTEM). THE 18Z GFS/GEFS MEAN COME CLOSEST TO THIS IDEA.  
BEHIND THIS FEATURE, THERE IS A SIGNAL FOR ANOTHER FEATURE OR TWO,  
WITH BEST DEFINED UPPER TROUGHING ULTIMATELY NEAR THE WEST COAST BY  
EARLY NEXT SATURDAY. SURFACE DETAILS WILL BE VERY SENSITIVE TO THE  
TIMING AND ENERGY DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE UPPER TROUGH. IN VARYING  
WAYS THE 12Z ECMWF DID NOT COMPARE WELL TO THE MAJORITY GUIDANCE  
CLUSTER LATE, THOUGH THE NEW 00Z RUN HAS AT LEAST TRENDED SOMEWHAT  
IN THE DESIRED DIRECTION.  
 
THE AFOREMENTIONED ARRAY OF GUIDANCE RECOMMENDED EMPHASIS ON THE  
18Z GFS AND 12Z ECMWF/CMC FOR ABOUT THE FIRST HALF OF THE PERIOD,  
FOLLOWED BY A TRANSITION TOWARD A MODEL/ENSEMBLE MEAN BLEND WITH  
GREATER WEIGHT ON THE 18Z GFS/GEFS MEAN.  
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS  
 
 
LATEST GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SHOW A WAVY COLD FRONT MOVING INTO THE  
EAST BY TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY, WITH STRONGER WAVE DEVELOPMENT FROM THE  
MID-ATLANTIC INTO THE NORTHEAST DURING WEDNESDAY-WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS  
THE SUPPORTING UPPER TROUGH TAKES ON A NEGATIVE TILT. SIGNALS HAVE  
BEEN FAIRLY STABLE OVER THE PAST DAY REGARDING A POTENTIAL AXIS OF  
ENHANCED RAINFALL OVER PARTS OF THE SOUTHEAST ON TUESDAY WITHIN AN  
AXIS OF ANOMALOUS MOISTURE AND SOME INSTABILITY AHEAD OF THE FRONT,  
FAVORING MAINTENANCE OF A SLIGHT RISK AREA IN THE DAY 4 EXCESSIVE  
RAINFALL OUTLOOK WITH MINOR ADJUSTMENT PER WFO COORDINATION. THE  
STORM PREDICTION CENTER IS STILL MONITORING FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF  
SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS THIS REGION. BY WEDNESDAY THE MAJORITY OF  
GUIDANCE SHOWS A BROADER AREA OF HEAVY RAINFALL OVER THE NORTHEAST  
IN RESPONSE TO VIGOROUS UPPER DYNAMICS AND SURFACE DEVELOPMENT.  
SNOW COVER OR AT LEAST WET GROUND WILL CAUSE SENSITIVITY ACROSS  
THIS REGION, SO THE DAY 5 ERO INTRODUCES A SLIGHT RISK AREA  
COVERING ABOUT THE EASTERN TWO-THIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND. A MARGINAL  
RISK AREA EXTENDS FROM WEST OF THE SLIGHT DOWN INTO THE SOUTHERN  
MID-ATLANTIC WHERE SOME INSTABILITY COULD HELP TO ENHANCE TOTALS  
LOCALLY. THE DEEPENING WAVE MAY PRODUCE A PERIOD OF BRISK TO  
STRONG WINDS IN ITS WAKE. ALSO EXPECT THE COLD AIR ARRIVING BEHIND  
THIS SYSTEM TO PRODUCE ANOTHER EPISODE OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW DURING  
WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY.  
 
THE DEVELOPING PATTERN ALONG THE WEST COAST SHOULD LEAD TO A RETURN  
OF RAIN AND HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW ACROSS THE NORTHWEST FROM LATE  
THIS WEEK INTO THE WEEKEND. THERE WILL LIKELY BE MULTIPLE  
SHORTWAVES/FRONTAL SYSTEMS BUT THERE IS STILL GREATER THAN AVERAGE  
UNCERTAINTY IN THE SPECIFICS OF THESE FEATURES. THUS IT WILL TAKE  
ADDITIONAL TIME TO RESOLVE THE FINER DETAILS OF PRECIPITATION  
COVERAGE, INTENSITY, AND TIMING.  
 
THE EAST WILL SEE WELL ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES TUESDAY INTO  
WEDNESDAY AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT PUSHING INTO THE REGION. GREATEST  
ANOMALIES SHOULD BE FOR MORNING LOWS, REACHING PLUS 15-20F OR MORE  
AT SOME LOCATIONS. THEN AN AREA OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES  
(MOSTLY NEGATIVE 5-15F ANOMALIES) WILL PROGRESS ACROSS THE EASTERN  
HALF OF THE COUNTRY WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY. THE WEST AND ESPECIALLY THE  
PLAINS WILL REBOUND TO ABOVE NORMAL FROM MIDWEEK ONWARD, WITH  
PARTS OF THE PLAINS SEEING PLUS 10-15F ANOMALIES BY LATE NEXT WEEK.  
 
RAUSCH  
 
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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