364  
FXUS02 KWBC 101857  
PMDEPD  
 
EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
257 PM EDT THU APR 10 2025  
 
VALID 12Z SUN APR 13 2025 - 12Z THU APR 17 2025  
   
..OVERVIEW  
 
GUIDANCE SHOWS A FAIRLY PROGRESSIVE PATTERN FOR THE SUNDAY-  
THURSDAY PERIOD. AN UPPER LOW ANCHORING AN AMPLIFIED EAST COAST  
TROUGH AS OF EARLY SUNDAY WILL LIFT AWAY WHILE THE NEXT TROUGH  
INITIALLY OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES AMPLIFIES INTO THE PLAINS AND  
THEN EASTERN U.S. AN UPPER LOW WITHIN THE LATTER TROUGH SHOULD  
TRACK NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER AND PROVIDE THE DYNAMIC SUPPORT FOR  
A PLAINS THROUGH UPPER GREAT LAKES AND EASTERN CANADA SURFACE LOW  
THAT WILL PUSH A COLD FRONT THROUGH THE EASTERN HALF OF THE  
COUNTRY. THE COMBINATION OF NORTHERN STREAM PACIFIC ENERGY AND WHAT  
IS LEFT OF A WEAKENING UPPER LOW COMING INTO THE SOUTHWEST AROUND  
TUESDAY MAY REACH THE PLAINS/MISSISSIPPI VALLEY BY NEXT THURSDAY  
AND REFLECT AT THE SURFACE AS ONE OR MORE WAVES/FRONTAL SYSTEMS.  
CONFIDENCE IN DETAILS IS ON THE LOWER SIDE THOUGH. ALSO AT THAT  
TIME ANOTHER UPPER LOW SHOULD REACH OFFSHORE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA  
WHILE SOME RIDGING BUILDS OVER THE WESTERN U.S. INTO CANADA. MOST  
PRECIPITATION WITH THE ABOVE SYSTEMS SHOULD BE LIGHT TO MODERATE  
AND CONFINED TO LOCATIONS EAST OF THE ROCKIES, WITH THE RELATIVELY  
HIGHER TOTALS OVER THE FAR NORTHERN TIER ON SUNDAY AND PARTS OF THE  
CENTRAL/SOUTH-CENTRAL PLAINS INTO MISSISSIPPI VALLEY MID-LATE  
WEEK.  
   
..GUIDANCE/PREDICTABILITY ASSESSMENT  
 
THERE IS REASONABLE CLUSTERING IN PRINCIPLE FOR THE SYSTEM  
DEPARTING FROM THE EAST COAST AND THE NEXT FEATURE EMERGING FROM  
THE ROCKIES/PLAINS. DYNAMICAL AND MACHINE LEARNING (ML) MODELS AND  
ENSEMBLES SHOW RAPIDLY INCREASING SPREAD FOR SOME ASPECTS OF LARGER  
SCALE FLOW ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF THE COUNTRY BY NEXT  
WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY.  
 
THE DEPARTING EAST COAST SYSTEM CONTINUES TO EXHIBIT SOME DETAIL  
DIFFERENCES, WITH THE MOST NOTABLE BEING THE GFS LEANING TO THE  
NORTHERN EXTREME OF THE SPREAD (MORE IN THE 12Z RUN VERSUS THE 06Z  
VERSION). FARTHER WEST, GFS/CMC RUNS HAVE BEEN GRADUALLY TRENDING  
NORTHWARD TOWARD THE REMAINING DYNAMICAL/ML CONSENSUS FOR A  
DEVELOPING UPPER LOW TO TRACK NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER.  
INTERESTINGLY THE 00Z/06Z GFS ACTUALLY BRIEFLY OPENED THE UPPER  
SYSTEM OVER THE UPPER MIDWEST BY MONDAY WHILE REMAINING GUIDANCE  
HAS BEEN ADVERTISING A CONSISTENT SIGNAL FOR AN UPPER LOW NEAR THE  
NORTHERN MINNESOTA BORDER. THEREAFTER, GUIDANCE EXHIBITS TYPICAL  
SPREAD FOR UPPER/SURFACE LOW SPECIFICS AND GOOD AGREEMENT FOR THE  
UPPER TROUGH REACHING THE EASTERN U.S. A MAJORITY/CONSENSUS  
APPROACH AMONG THE 00Z/06Z OPERATIONAL MODELS LOOKS GOOD FOR THE  
DEPICTION OF THESE SYSTEMS.  
 
GUIDANCE HAS BEEN HAVING MORE DIFFICULTY IN RESOLVING SPECIFICS  
OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC INTO WESTERN NORTH AMERICA, WITH VARYING  
AMOUNTS OF TROUGH ENERGY SPLITTING WHILE NEARING THE WEST COAST.  
SOLUTIONS ARE CLUSTERING TOWARD ONE UPPER LOW COMING INTO THE  
SOUTHWEST AROUND TUESDAY WHILE WEAK SHORTWAVE ENERGY REACHES THE  
PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND WESTERN CANADA. THEN BY WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY  
LATEST TRENDS ARE FOR THE SOUTHWEST UPPER LOW TO OPEN UP BUT WITH  
THE REMAINING SHORTWAVE MAINTAINING SOME DEFINITION AS IT CROSSES  
THE ROCKIES/PLAINS WHILE THE NORTHERN ENERGY BEGINS TO AMPLIFY  
DOWNSTREAM FROM A RIDGE THAT BUILDS INTO AND NORTH OF THE WESTERN  
U.S. THERE IS A MINORITY ENSEMBLE CLUSTER AND A COUPLE ML MODELS  
THAT SHOW SIGNIFICANTLY MORE TROUGH AMPLIFICATION OVER THE INTERIOR  
WEST OR ROCKIES THOUGH, AND THE 00Z AIFS MEAN HINTS AT A  
COMBINATION OF THESE IDEAS. MEANWHILE ANOTHER UPPER LOW SHOULD  
REACH A POSITION OFFSHORE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BY NEXT THURSDAY. A  
TREND TOWARD HALF MODELS AND HALF MEANS (06Z GEFS/00Z ECENS) BY  
LATE IN THE PERIOD PROVIDES A REASONABLE ACCOUNT FOR LATEST  
OPERATIONAL MODEL TRENDS BUT LOWER THAN AVERAGE CONFIDENCE IN SOME  
OF THE SPECIFICS AT THAT TIME. AT THE VERY LEAST, EVEN WITH THE  
GUIDANCE SPREAD THERE IS A DECENT SIGNAL FOR A GENERAL AXIS OF  
LOWER SURFACE PRESSURES OVER THE PLAINS BY NEXT THURSDAY WITH  
GEFS/ECENS ENSEMBLES SHOWING THE GENERAL IDEA OF AN EAST-CENTRAL  
U.S. RAIN AREA.  
   
..WEATHER/HAZARDS HIGHLIGHTS  
 
EASTERN PARTS OF NEW ENGLAND SHOULD SEE LINGERING RAINFALL ON  
SUNDAY WITH THE SYSTEM TRACKING AWAY FROM THE EAST COAST. MEANWHILE  
THE DEVELOPING NORTHERN PLAINS INTO UPPER GREAT LAKES SYSTEM  
SHOULD BRING A BAND OF ENHANCED RAINFALL WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF  
SOME POCKETS OF SNOW ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH DAKOTA AND MINNESOTA,  
WITH SOME RAIN/SNOW CONTINUING ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES/NORTHEAST  
THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK. BEST POTENTIAL FOR SOME SNOW  
ACCUMULATION SHOULD BE OVER THE U.P. OF MICHIGAN AND TO THE LEE OF  
THE EASTERN GREAT LAKES AND HIGH ELEVATIONS OF THE NORTHEAST. THERE  
WILL ALSO BE SOME RAINFALL ALONG THE SYSTEM'S TRAILING COLD FRONT,  
BUT LIKELY WITH LIGHT TO MODERATE AMOUNTS. NOTE THAT THE STORM  
PREDICTION CENTER IS MONITORING THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME STRONG  
CONVECTION OVER PARTS OF THE OHIO VALLEY ON MONDAY (MOSTLY WIND  
THREATS). EXPECT RAINFALL WITH THE ABOVE SYSTEMS TO STAY LIGHT  
ENOUGH NOT TO PRESENT FLASH FLOOD CONCERNS, SO THE DAYS 4-5 EROS  
DEPICT NO RISK AREAS. FLOW BEHIND THE NORTHERN TIER STORM SHOULD  
PRODUCE STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS OVER THE NORTHERN/CENTRAL PLAINS  
SUNDAY INTO MONDAY, WITH SOME BRISK WINDS REACHING INTO THE GREAT  
LAKES/NORTHEAST THEREAFTER.  
 
A WEAKENING UPPER LOW REACHING THE SOUTHWEST BY TUESDAY MAY  
PRODUCE SOME VERY SCATTERED AND LIGHT PRECIPITATION. DEPENDING ON  
THE DEFINITION AND SURFACE REFLECTION OF THIS ENERGY FARTHER  
EASTWARD, THERE MAY BE A BAND OF RAINFALL WITH VARYING INTENSITY  
FROM PARTS OF THE CENTRAL/SOUTH-CENTRAL PLAINS EASTWARD THROUGH THE  
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY BY WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY.  
 
THE MID-UPPER LEVEL RIDGE AXIS ACROSS THE PLAINS ON SUNDAY WILL  
SUPPORT WIDESPREAD ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES (PLUS 10-25F  
ANOMALIES) FROM THE DESERT SOUTHWEST TO THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN  
PLAINS. HIGHS COULD REACH INTO THE 90S FROM WESTERN TEXAS TO  
EASTERN COLORADO AND WESTERN KANSAS, BEFORE THE COLD FRONT BRINGS  
READINGS CLOSER TO CLIMATOLOGY FOR MONDAY. SOME DAILY RECORDS ARE  
POSSIBLE ON SUNDAY, ESPECIALLY OVER THE SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS. THE  
WARMTH WILL MODERATE AS IT CONTINUES EASTWARD INTO MONDAY AND EARLY  
TUESDAY. THEN THE COLD FRONT PUSHING ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF  
THE COUNTRY WILL BRING NEAR TO BELOW NORMAL READINGS, WITH HIGHS UP  
TO 10-15F BELOW NORMAL OVER PARTS OF THE EAST AROUND MIDWEEK.  
GENERAL MEAN RIDGING ALOFT OVER THE WEST WILL SUPPORT AN EXPANDING  
AREA OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES OVER THE WEST AND EVENTUALLY  
INCLUDING THE PLAINS MONDAY ONWARD, WITH FAIRLY BROAD COVERAGE OF  
PLUS 10-20F ANOMALIES.  
 
RAUSCH/HAMRICK  
 
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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