569  
FXUS10 KWNH 081707  
PMDHMD  
 
MODEL DIAGNOSTIC DISCUSSION  
NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD  
106 PM EDT FRI MAY 08 2020  
 
VALID MAY 08/1200 UTC THRU MAY 12/0000 UTC  
 
...SEE NOUS42 KWNO (ADMSDM) FOR THE STATUS OF THE UPPER AIR  
INGEST...  
 
12Z MODEL PRELIMINARY EVALUATION INCLUDING LATEST PREFERENCES AND  
CONFIDENCE  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
   
..DEEPENING SURFACE LOW MOVING ALONG THE NORTHEAST COAST
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: 12Z GFS/NAM, 06Z GEFS, 00Z ECENS/ECMWF/UKMET ALTHOUGH  
LESS WEIGHT ON THE ECMWF/UKMET  
CONFIDENCE: AVERAGE  
 
SURFACE LOW PRESSURE CONSOLIDATING NEAR NEW JERSEY WILL LIFT  
NORTHEAST INTO THE GULF OF MAINE LATE TONIGHT AND THEN CONTINUE  
NORTHEAST INTO THE CANADIAN MARITIMES LATE SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY.  
THIS LOW WILL DEEPEN IN RESPONSE TO AN ANOMALOUSLY STRONG CLOSED  
LOW OVER SE CANADA (-4 STANDARD DEVIATIONS FROM CLIMO) INTERACTING  
WITH THE SHORTWAVE ENERGY DRIVING THE SURFACE LOW, AS WELL AS  
INCREASING DIFFLUENCE OF AN ATYPICAL JET STREAK (+3 STANDARD  
DEVIATIONS FROM CLIMO.) THE 00Z/CMC IS THE ONLY CLEAR OUTLIER WITH  
THE TRACK OF THIS LOW, AS IT IS E/SE OF THE CONSENSUS, AND HAS  
ENSEMBLE SPREAD EVEN FURTHER EAST OF ITS OPERATIONAL RUN. THIS IS  
LIKELY DUE TO A MUCH WEAKER 250MB JET STREAK WITH LESS ROBUST  
POLE-WARD EXTENT OF THE JET CORE ROTATING AROUND THE UPPER LOW,  
ALLOWING THE SURFACE LOW TO DISPLACE TO THE EAST. THE 00Z/ECMWF  
HAS AN 850MB LOW WHICH IS A LITTLE SLOW COMPARED TO CONSENSUS  
DESPITE ITS SIMILAR PLACEMENT, AND SINCE THE TREND HAS BEEN FOR A  
FASTER EJECTION OF THIS SYSTEM, THE SLOWER ECMWF SEEMS LESS  
LIKELY, ESPECIALLY WITH THE ECENS SPEED MORE IN LINE WITH THE  
REMAINING GUIDANCE.  
 
THE GFS/NAM/GEFS/ECENS ARE VERY WELL CLUSTERED FOR D1 AND CREATE  
THE PREFERRED BLEND FOR THIS SYSTEM, ALTHOUGH SOME WEIGHT OF THE  
ECMWF AND UKMET WHICH ARE JUST A BIT SLOW OR A TAD SE CAN BE  
INCLUDED, BUT WILL TEMPER THE OVERALL GREAT AGREEMENT OF THE  
STRONGEST PREFERENCES TO ACCOUNT FOR MODEL SHIFTS THE PAST 24  
HOURS.  
 
...DUAL SHORTWAVES DROPPING THROUGH THE NORTHERN PLAINS AND RACING  
EAST TO THE MID-ATLANTIC...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: 00Z ECMWF/ECENS/UKMET/CMC, 12Z NAMNEST, 06Z GEFS  
THROUGH D2.  
NON-00Z ECMWF D3  
CONFIDENCE: AVERAGE  
 
TWO SHORTWAVES DROPPING QUICKLY INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS WILL  
EVENTUALLY COME TOGETHER D3 OVER THE MID-ATLANTIC. THE LEAD  
SHORTWAVE IS MOST IMPORTANT AS IT DIGS THROUGH NORTH DAKOTA  
SOUTHEAST TOWARDS SOUTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY AS  
THIS PRODUCES A WAVE OF LOW PRESSURE AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT  
WITH PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE REGION. THE 12Z NCEP GUIDANCE (GFS  
AND NAM) ARE BOTH STRONG WITH THE LEAD SHORTWAVE SHOWING SHARPER  
TROUGHING INTO MINNESOTA. THIS DRIVES THE SURFACE LOW A BIT SE OF  
CONSENSUS, BUT ALSO LEADS TO STRONGER MID-LEVEL  
STRETCHING/DEFORMATION TO THE NW. THIS LEADS TO STRONGER FORCED  
PRECIPITATION AND LIKELY A HEAVIER BAND OF SNOW WHERE THERMALS  
SUPPORT FROZEN PRECIPITATION. THE 00Z/CMC BECOMES A BIT STRONGER  
WITH ITS 500MB AMPLIFICATION INTO SUNDAY, BUT IS USABLE SATURDAY  
/D1./ THE REMAINING GUIDANCE INCLUDING THE ECMWF/ECENS/UKMET AND  
HIGH RES NAMNEST ALL ARE WELL CLUSTERED WITH THE SURFACE LOW, AND  
THE GEFS IS ALSO WEST OF THE GFSOP, WELL IN LINE WITH THE  
PREFERRED CONSENSUS. DESPITE SOMEWHAT WEAKER DEFORMATION THAN  
SHOWN IN THE NAM/GFS, A STRIPE OF MODERATE SNOW IS LIKELY FROM ND  
INTO MN.  
 
THIS SHORTWAVE SHOULD WEAKEN ON D2 AS IT BECOMES SHEARED INTO THE  
WESTERLIES AROUND THE BASE OF THE TROUGH IN THE EAST, BUT IS  
LIKELY TO RE-INTENSIFY MONDAY AS THE SECOND SHORTWAVE BEGINS  
INTERACTION WITH THE LEAD WHICH IS WEAKENING. SHARPENING OF THIS  
MID-LEVEL WAVE TOWARDS THE EAST COAST MAY LEAD TO SECONDARY  
SURFACE LOW DEVELOPMENT MONDAY SOUTH OF NEW ENGLAND. THE ECMWF BY  
THIS TIME IS A CLEAR SLOW OUTLIER COMPARED TO THE CONSENSUS WHICH  
IS OTHERWISE IN GOOD AGREEMENT. FOR THIS REASON THE ECMWF IS  
REMOVED FROM THE BLEND FOR D3.  
 
   
..SHORTWAVE ENERGY CROSSING SOUTHERN CA BY SUN MORNING
 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
PREFERENCE: GENERAL MODEL BLEND  
CONFIDENCE: ABOVE AVERAGE  
 
A WEAK SHORTWAVE LIFTING ONSHORE SOUTHERN CA SATURDAY WILL WEAKEN  
AS IT SHIFTS EASTWARD INTO THE DESERT SOUTHWEST ON SUNDAY.  
ALTHOUGH THE 12Z/GFS IS A BIT AMPLIFIED COMPARED TO CONSENSUS, AND  
THE 00Z/CMC IS SUBTLY FLAT, THE OVERALL SPREAD ENVELOPE IS  
MINIMAL. A GENERAL MODEL BLEND REMAINS THE PREFERRED OPTION.  
 
MODEL TRENDS AT WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/HTML/MODEL2.SHTML  
500 MB FORECASTS AT WWW.WPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/H5PREF/H5PREF.SHTML  
 
ORRISON/WEISS  
 

 
 
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