249  
FXUS10 KWNH 160649  
PMDHMD  
 
MODEL DIAGNOSTIC DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
149 AM EST SUN FEB 16 2020  
 
VALID FEB 16/0000 UTC THRU FEB 19/1200 UTC  
 
...SEE NOUS42 KWNO (ADMNFD) FOR THE STATUS OF THE UPPER AIR  
INGEST...  
 
00Z MODEL EVALUATION WITH PREFERENCES & CONFIDENCE  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
 
UPPER TROUGH ACROSS GREAT LAKES AND NORTHEAST SUNDAY AND MONDAY  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: GENERAL MODEL BLEND  
CONFIDENCE: ABOVE AVERAGE  
 
BROAD CYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT OVER THE NORTH-CENTRAL U.S. WILL SUPPORT  
THE PASSAGE OF A FEW SHORTWAVE PERTURBATIONS THROUGH THE BEGINNING  
OF THE WORK WEEK. THE LEAD IMPULSE WILL TRACK EASTWARD ACROSS THE  
GREAT LAKES ON SUNDAY AND THEN THE NORTHEAST ON MONDAY, WITH AN  
ATTENDANT COLD FRONT REACHING NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND BY MONDAY  
MORNING. THERE IS ENOUGH MASS FIELD AGREEMENT IN THE MODELS TO  
MERIT A GENERAL MODEL BLEND FOR THIS FEATURE.  
 
SHORTWAVE IMPULSE ACROSS UPPER MIDWEST MONDAY  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: 00Z ECMWF/GFS BLEND  
CONFIDENCE: SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE  
 
BY MONDAY EVENING THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW PATTERN IS EXPECTED TO  
BECOME MORE SEPARATED WITH A NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN STREAM  
COMPONENT. TWO SEPARATE SHORTWAVES IN QUICK SUCCESSION ARE  
PROGGED TO CROSS THE UPPER MIDWEST AND NORTHERN GREAT LAKES  
REGION, WITH THE FIRST ONE TRACKING EASTWARD ACROSS THE UPPER  
MIDWEST AND THE DAKOTAS ON MONDAY, AND THEN REACHING THE NORTHERN  
GREAT LAKES BY EARLY TUESDAY. THIS WILL SUPPORT A WAVE OF LOW  
PRESSURE ALONG A COLD FRONT ACROSS THIS REGION. SIMILAR TO  
YESTERDAY, THE 00Z NAM REMAINS STRONGER AND SLOWER WITH THE  
PASSAGE OF THE TROUGH AXIS, AND ITS SURFACE LOW IS NORTH OF THE  
MODEL CONSENSUS ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES. THE 00Z UKMET IS SLOWER  
WITH THE PROGRESSION OF THE COLD FRONT ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY AND  
THE APPALACHIANS. THE GFS AND ECMWF ARE CLOSE TO THEIR RESPECTIVE  
ENSEMBLE MEANS, AND A BLEND OF THESE TWO MODELS SHOULD SUFFICE AS  
A STARTING POINT.  
 
SECOND SHORTWAVE IMPULSE REACHING THE GREAT LAKES TUESDAY  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: 00Z ECMWF/CMC  
CONFIDENCE: NEAR AVERAGE  
 
A MID LEVEL IMPULSE WILL QUICKLY FOLLOW IN PROGRESSIVE NORTHWEST  
FLOW OVER NORTHERN MINNESOTA AND NORTHERN MICHIGAN ON TUESDAY, AND  
EVENTUALLY CONSOLIDATE WITH THE PREVIOUS SHORTWAVE MENTIONED  
ABOVE. THE MAIN DIFFERENCE IN THE MODELS IS THE 00Z NAM IS SLOWER  
AND STRONGER WITH THE TROUGH PASSAGE, AND THE GFS IS SLIGHTLY  
FASTER. THE 00Z ECMWF AND CMC REMAIN THE BEST STARTING POINT FOR  
MASS FIELDS.  
 
BROAD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH BUILDING ACROSS THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: 00Z UKMET/00Z GFS/00Z CMC  
CONFIDENCE: NEAR AVERAGE  
 
THE SOUTHERN STREAM COMPONENT OF THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW IS FORECAST  
TO EVOLVE INTO A BROAD TROUGH OVER THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST BY  
MONDAY NIGHT WHILST AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE AXIS BUILDS JUST WEST OF  
THE WEST COAST. SOME OF THE SHORTWAVE ENERGY MAY TRY TO UNDERCUT  
THE RIDGE AND FORM A TEMPORARY BLOCKING PATTERN. THE 00Z NAM IS  
ALSO MORE AMPLIFIED WITH THIS PORTION OF THE TROUGH, WHILST THE EC  
MEAN DOES NOT SHOW AS MUCH TENDENCY TO UNDERCUT THE WEST COAST  
RIDGE BY WEDNESDAY MORNING.  
 
MODEL TRENDS AT WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/HTML/MODEL2.HTML  
500 MB FORECASTS AT WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/H5PREF/H5PREF.SHTML  
 
HAMRICK  
 

 
 
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