880  
FXUS10 KWNH 210707  
PMDHMD  
 
MODEL DIAGNOSTIC DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
206 AM EST TUE JAN 21 2020  
 
VALID JAN 21/0000 UTC THRU JAN 24/1200 UTC  
 
...SEE NOUS42 KWNO (ADMNFD) FOR THE STATUS OF THE UPPER AIR  
INGEST...  
 
00Z MODEL EVALUATION WITH FINAL PREFERENCES AND FORECAST CONFIDENCE  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~  
 
   
..CLOSED LOW OFF THE SOUTHEAST COAST
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~  
PREFERENCE: NON NAM/UKMET CONSENSUS  
CONFIDENCE: SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE  
 
UPPER LOW DROPPING ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST WILL CLOSE OFF AS IT EXITS  
INTO THE ATLANTIC. THE GUIDANCE IS IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH THIS  
FEATURE CLOSING OFF VERY CLOSE TO THE COAST BUT REMAINING  
PROGRESSIVE AS IT HAS SOME INTERACTION WITH A SHORTWAVE LEAVING  
NEW ENGLAND. THE UKMET IS A CLEAR OUTLIER IN TERMS OF SPEED AND  
INTENSITY OF THIS FEATURE, WHILE THE NAM MAINTAINS A SURFACE  
FEATURE MUCH CLOSER TO THE COAST. WHILE AN INVERTED TROUGH  
LINGERING NEAR THE COAST IS LIKELY BEFORE THE LOW PULLS AWAY,  
WHICH MAY SPREAD SOME MOISTURE THROUGH LOW-LEVEL CONFLUENT FLOW  
INTO FLORIDA, IMPACTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE PRIMARILY OFF THE COAST.  
 
...IMPULSES MOVING ONTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST THROUGH  
THURSDAY...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~  
PREFERENCE: NON GFS/UKMET TUESDAY, GEFS/ECMWF MEANS D2-D3  
CONFIDENCE: SLIGHTLY BELOW AVERAGE  
 
CLOSED UPPER LOW MOVING ONTO THE BRITISH COLUMBIA COAST WILL  
WEAKEN TODAY AS IT LIFTS NORTHEAST. THE GFS IS DEEPER AND LINGERS  
THE CLOSED LOW FURTHER EAST THAN THE GLOBAL CONSENSUS, WHILE THE  
UKMET CONTINUES ITS CONUS-WIDE BEHAVIOR OF BEING GENERALLY TOO  
PROGRESSIVE. AFTER A SHORT PERIOD OF SHORTWAVE RIDGING DURING  
WEDNESDAY, A COMPLEX TROUGH FEATURE TWO DISTINCT SHORTWAVES WILL  
APPROACH THE PACNW COAST THURSDAY. THE STRONGER FEATURE WILL  
REMAIN IN THE GULF OF ALASKA, BUT A SECONDARY SHORTWAVE SPINNING  
CYCLONICALLY THROUGH THE BASE OF THE TROUGH WILL ADVECT TOWARDS  
OR/WA BY THE END OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. THE NAM/CMC ARE MUCH  
FLATTER/FASTER WITH THIS FEATURE, LIKELY DUE TO STRONGER  
DOWNSTREAM RIDGING ACROSS THE INTER-MOUNTAIN WEST, WHILE THE UKMET  
IS FAST WITH BOTH ITS JET ENERGY AND SHORTWAVES MOVING INTO THE  
COAST. THE GFS IS A BIT FASTER THAN ITS MEAN, WHILE THE ECMWF MAY  
BE A BIT DEEPER THAN THE BLEND OF THE MEANS. FORTUNATELY, THE GEFS  
AND ECMWF MEANS ARE VERY SIMILAR IN TIMING AND INTENSITY OF THE  
ENERGY APPROACHING THE COAST, AND A BLEND OF THESE TWO IS  
PREFERRED, WITH SOME WEIGHT ON THE OPERATIONAL ECMWF AS WELL TO  
MAINTAIN SOME OF THE FINER QPF DETAILS IN THE TERRAIN.  
 
   
..INTERACTION OF CLOSED SHORTWAVES IN THE PLAINS
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~  
PREFERENCE: 00Z ECMWF, 12Z ECMWF MEAN, 00Z NAM, 00Z GEFS  
CONFIDENCE: BELOW AVERAGE  
 
GUIDANCE CONTINUES TO SUGGEST BINARY INTERACTION OF CLOSED LOWS  
ACROSS THE PLAINS D2-D3, BUT THE LEVEL TO WHICH THIS OCCURS AND AT  
WHAT TEMPORAL EVOLUTION REMAINS IN QUESTION. TWO SHORTWAVES WILL  
LIKELY DIG FROM WESTERN CANADA INTO THE PLAINS, WITH A SHEARED  
VORT LOBE RACING SOUTHEAST TO CLOSE OFF IN THE MISSOURI VALLEY  
AHEAD OF A SECONDARY FEATURE WHICH IS PROGGED TO CLOSE OFF NEAR  
THE DAKOTAS ON D3. THE UKMET IS AGAIN TOO WEAK AND MERGES THESE  
FEATURES TOGETHER INTO A BROAD CLOSED LOW ACROSS THE MIDDLE OF THE  
COUNTRY. THIS IS THE NOT THE GLOBAL CONSENSUS, AND IN FACT THE  
TREND IN THE GUIDANCE HAS BEEN FOR SLOWER INTERACTION DUE TO A  
FASTER PRIMARY SHORTWAVE AND A SLOWER SECONDARY LAGGING FEATURE.  
THE ECMWF HAS BEEN QUITE CONSISTENT WITH ITS EVOLUTION THE PAST  
THREE RUNS, AND AT THIS TIME IS CLOSE TO THE NAM EVOLUTION,  
ALTHOUGH THE NAM IS LIKELY TOO FAR SOUTHEAST WITH THE LEADING  
CLOSED LOW BASED OFF THE ENSEMBLE MEANS POSITION. THE GFS HAS  
SHOWN VERY LITTLE RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY WITH ITS PLACEMENT OF  
THESE FEATURES, BUT THE GEFS MEAN HAS REASONABLE PLACEMENT WHEN  
COMPARED TO THE PREFERRED CONSENSUS.  
 
MODEL TRENDS AT WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/HTML/MODEL2.HTML  
500 MB FORECASTS AT WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/H5PREF/H5PREF.SHTML  
 
WEISS  
 

 
 
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