642  
FXUS10 KWNH 281624  
PMDHMD  
MODEL DIAGNOSTIC DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
1123 AM EST FRI FEB 28 2020  
 
VALID FEB 28/1200 UTC THRU MAR 03/0000 UTC  
 
...SEE NOUS42 KWNO (ADMNFD) FOR THE STATUS OF THE UPPER AIR  
INGEST...  
 
12Z MODEL EVALUATION WITH PREFERENCES & FORECAST CONFIDENCE  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
 
SYSTEM SLOWLY PULLING AWAY FROM THE NORTHEAST THROUGH SUNDAY  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: GENERAL MODEL BLEND  
CONFIDENCE: SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE  
 
BROAD/ELONGATED CLOSED LOW OVER SW QUEBEC WILL BREAK DOWN A BIT  
INTERNALLY AS IT DRIFTS EASTWARD TODAY INTO SUNDAY. PRIOR TO THE  
NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST ORIENTED UPPER JET/SHEAR AXIS ADVANCES  
THROUGH THE NORTHEAST LATER SUNDAY INTO MONDAY, THE INNER CORE  
DYNAMICS EVOLVE DIFFERENTLY WITHIN THE NCEP VS NON-NCEP SUITE.  
THE GFS/NAM BOTH ARE MORE CENTRAL AND STRONGER WITH THE INNER CORE  
SUPPORTING A STRONGER SURFACE OCCLUSION (MAINLY THE 06Z GFS/GEFS)  
ROTATING BACK TOWARD MAINE; THIS IS OPPOSED BY THE ECMWF/CMC WHICH  
SHOWS A BROADER RING OF ENERGY (VORTEX BREAKDOWN) AROUND A  
WEAK/DEVOID CENTROID HUB. THE 12Z GFS TRENDED MORE TOWARD THE  
ECMWF EVOLUTION AND FURTHER OFFSHORE WITH THE SURFACE CYCLONE. SO  
OVERALL A GENERAL MODEL BLEND COULD BE EMPLOYED AT SLIGHTLY ABOVE  
AVERAGE CONFIDENCE.  
 
SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN CANADA & ITS TRAILING FRONT  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: 00Z CMC/ECENS WITH 12Z GFS/06Z GEFS BLEND  
CONFIDENCE: AVERAGE  
 
GOES-WEST WV SUITE DEPICTS A COMPACT SHORTWAVE NEARING VANCOUVER  
ISLAND AT THIS TIME. THIS WAVE, PARTICULARLY THE LEADING EDGE OF  
THE HEIGHT-FALLS AHEAD OF THE UPSTREAM DESCENDING BRANCH OF THE  
JET WILL TRACK ACROSS THE SOUTHERN CANADIAN ROCKIES WITH A COMPACT  
SURFACE REFLECTION. THE 12Z NAM AND 00Z UKMET ARE A FASTER AND  
SHIFTED NORTHEAST WITH GREATER SHEAR AXIS THROUGH CENTRAL  
SASK/MANITOBA...LEADING TO GREATER INFLUENCE OF ARCTIC SHORTWAVE  
ENERGY (BINARY INTERACTION). WHILE THE NAM, SHOWS A BIT  
TIGHTER/COMPACT EVOLUTION THROUGH W ONTARIO, THE UKMET GETS TOO  
FAST. THIS IS IMPORTANT GIVEN THE ASSOCIATED FRONTAL ZONE THAT  
SLIDES INTO THE NORTHERN TIER AS WELL AS THE DEEP SOUTHWESTERLY  
FLOW/SUBTROPICAL TAP OR CONNECTION LATER IN THE FORECAST PERIOD  
AHEAD OF THE TWO TRAILING SYSTEMS (SEE SECTIONS BELOW). THE 00Z  
ECMWF SHOWS SOME LAGGING COMPACT EVOLUTION THAT RETARDS THE  
SURFACE WAVE AND FRONTAL ZONE BY MONDAY RELATIVE TO THE CMC/GFS  
AND EVEN THE 00Z ECENS MEAN, MAKING IT A BIT LESS FAVORABLE  
OVERALL. AS SUCH WILL SUPPORT SOME OF ITS INCLUSION, BUT MORE  
FROM THE 12Z GFS/06Z GEFS AND THE 00Z CMC/ECENS TO HELP PROGRESS  
IT A BIT MORE IN TIMING, OF THE FRONT INTO THE GREAT LAKES AS WELL  
AS MOISTURE/INSTABILITY FLUX ACROSS THE LOWER MS INTO TN RIVER  
VALLEYS BY 84HRS. WHILE THE SPREAD IS FAIRLY SMALL, THE VARIANCE  
ALONG WITH STAGING THE ENVIRONMENT IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT BUT  
ALSO IN A LOWER THAN NORMAL PREDICTABILITY FLOW REGIME. STILL,  
THE AGREEMENT IS SOLID ENOUGH TO HAVE AVERAGE CONFIDENCE IN THIS  
BLEND.  
 
SYSTEM DROPPING DOWN THE WEST COAST SUNDAY & MONDAY  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: NON-GFS BLEND WEIGHTED TOWARD 00Z CMC/ECWMF  
CONFIDENCE: SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE  
 
STRONG SHORTWAVE OFF VANCOUVER ISLAND WILL PRESS EAST, BUT THE  
STRONG UPSTREAM ENERGY IN THE UPPER LEVEL JET BEHIND THE MAIN  
TROF, WILL ALLOW FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN CLOSED LOW ACROSS N CA  
BY MONDAY THROUGH ANTICYCLONIC WAVE BREAK PROCESSES. THIS PROCESS  
IS FAIRLY WELL AGREED UPON IN THE SUITE THROUGH 02.00Z (LATE  
SUNDAY EVENING), BUT THIS AGREEMENT BEINGS TO FADE AS THE INNER  
CORE EVOLVES, AND ITS INTERACTION WITH THE SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE  
STREAM AS WELL, AS THE NORTHERN STREAM CONNECTIONS. THE RUN TO  
RUN TRENDS IN THE ENSEMBLE SUITE APPEAR TO BE FAVORING A  
SLOWING/FURTHER SOUTHWARD DIGGING OF THE CLOSED LOW FIRST  
PRESENTED BY THE CMC SUITE, THEN FOLLOWED BY THE ECMWF. THE UKMET  
TRENDED THIS WAY, AS WELL AS THE 12Z NAM, PROVIDING INCREASED  
CONFIDENCE, AS THE GUIDANCE FALLS INTO THEIR MORE TRADITIONAL BIAS  
SPACING RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER. STILL, THE CONNECTION OF THE CMC  
TO THE NORTHERN STREAM APPEARS TO BE THE MIDDLE GROUND WITH BEST  
CONTINUITY AND WILL CONTINUE TO FAVOR IT AS THE ANCHOR TO THE  
PREFERENCE. THE 00Z ECMWF/ECENS MEAN ARE WITHIN TOLERANCE AS  
WELL. THE UKMET IS SOLID IN THE SOUTHWEST INTO THE SOUTHERN  
PLAINS, BUT THE AFFECTS OF THE STRONGER/FASTER NORTHERN STREAM  
(SEE SECTION BELOW) MAKE IT A BIT LESS FAVORABLE, LOWER WEIGHTED  
(POSSIBLY HAVING A FASTER STRONGER SUBTROPICAL JET TOO) BUT STILL  
INCLUDED. THE 12Z NAM WHILE STILL A BIT NORTH/ELONGATED INTO THE  
NORTHERN STREAM RELATIVE TO THE CMC/ECMWF, LOOKS TO MEET AN  
ACCEPTABLE EVOLUTION TO HAVE SOME LOWER WEIGHTED INCLUSION AS  
WELL. THE 12Z GFS, MUCH LIKE ITS PRIOR RUNS, CONTINUES TO BE  
FASTER IN SWINGING THE UPSTREAM SHORTWAVE ENERGY AROUND THE BASE  
OF THE DEVELOPING CLOSED LOW, SHIFTING IT EASTWARD, LEADING TO  
SUBSTANTIAL MASS DIFFERENCES BY 84HRS IN THE SOUTHWEST. AS SUCH  
WILL FAVOR A CMC/ECMWF HEAVY, NON-GFS BLEND AT SLIGHTLY ABOVE  
AVERAGE CONFIDENCE.  
 
FAST MOVING SHORTWAVE THROUGH BRITISH COLUMBIA, NORTHERN ROCKIES,  
POTENTIALLY PHASING WITH SOUTHERN STREAM ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS  
INTO TUESDAY  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: 00Z CMC/ECMWF AND 12Z GFS BLEND  
CONFIDENCE: AVERAGE  
 
A VERY IMPORTANT SHORTWAVE TO THE EVENTUAL HIGH HAZARD/FLOODING  
CONCERN IN THE MEDIUM-RANGE ACROSS THE MS VALLEY INTO THE TN  
VALLEY WILL HAVE SOME IMPACT TO THE VERY END OF THE SHORT-TERM  
FORECAST PERIOD ACROSS THE PACIFIC NW AND NORTHERN HIGH PLAINS.  
THIS WAVE IS STILL WELL NORTH ALONG THE ALEUTIAN CHAIN AND IS  
EXPECTED TO TRACK ALONG THE ALASKAN PENINSULA, BEFORE OVER-TOPPING  
THE BROAD GULF OF AK RIDGE AND DROPPING THROUGH THE CENTRAL  
CANADIAN ROCKIES BY 12Z MONDAY. VORTICAL STRETCHING AND SHARP  
250MB LEFT EXIT, ANTICYCLONIC CURVATURE WILL SUPPORT COMPACT SPIN  
UP OF THE WAVE AND SUPPORT SURFACE CYCLOGENESIS THROUGH N ALBERTA  
TO SASKATCHEWAN, BUT STILL BROAD ASCENT AS FAR SOUTH AS THE  
CENTRAL US ROCKIES BY 03.00Z. THIS IS FAIRLY LOW PREDICTABILITY  
TRACK FOR PRECISE DEPTH/STRENGTH THOUGH THERE IS INCREASINGLY  
TIGHTENING IN THE GUIDANCE SUITE. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PLACEMENT  
IS CRITICAL TO THE PLACEMENT/TIMING OF PHASING WITH THE SOUTHWEST  
SYSTEM LIFTING OUT, AFTER 84HRS. THE 00Z CMC/ECMWF/ECENS MEAN  
HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT PROVIDING THE CENTROID OF INITIAL PREFERENCE.  
THIS WILL LEAD THE FASTER UKMET (TYPICAL OF BIAS) A BIT OUT OF  
TOLERANCE. THE 12Z NAM IS A BIT SLOWER AND FURTHER NORTH, WHICH  
MAY HAVE SOME MORE TO DO WITH THE RESOLUTION OF THE TERRAIN AND  
THE VORTICAL SPIN UP, SHOWING THE UNCERTAINTY/LOW PREDICTABILITY  
ENVIRONMENT. THE 12Z GFS, HOWEVER, SAW SIZABLE ADJUSTMENT TOWARD  
THE TREND AND LOOKS TO BE A GOOD MATCH AT LEAST FOR THIS SYSTEM  
AND THROUGH 84HRS. THIS WAS DUE TO A SLIGHT ADJUSTMENT NORTH,  
SLOWING AND INJECTING LESS ENERGY FROM THIS WAVE TOWARD  
PULLING/KICKING THE SOUTHWEST WAVE OUT INTO THE PLAINS. SO WILL  
PREFER A 00Z CMC/ECMWF AND 12Z GFS BLEND BUT CONFIDENCE WILL BE  
AVERAGE GIVEN THE RUN TO RUN VARIANCE EXPECTED IN THIS FLOW  
REGIME/CYCLONE TRACK.  
 
MODEL TRENDS AT WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/HTML/MODEL2.SHTML  
500 MB FORECASTS AT WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/H5PREF/H5PREF.SHTML  
 
GALLINA  
 

 
 
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