Extended Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
225 AM EDT Thu Jun 03 2021
Valid 12Z Sun Jun 06 2021 - 12Z Thu Jun 10 2021
...Record Heat possible from parts of the Great Lakes into the
Northeast....
...Multiple Day Heavy Rainfall Event Likely For Parts of the
Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley...
...Overview and Guidance Evaluation/Preferences...
The medium range will feature amplification and persistence of a
mean trough over the West Coast throughout the period which will
promote mean ridging over most of the East. This will shift much
above normal temperatures this weekend over the Great
Basin/Northern Plains, into parts of the Great Lakes and Northeast
next week. In between, expect a slow-moving upper low/trough to
generate unsettled weather and potentially heavy rainfall over
parts of the already over saturated Southern Plains and Lower
Mississippi Valley. Shortwave energy passing over the East Coast
this weekend may also form a modest upper low embedded within the
mean ridge off the Mid-Atlantic coast but with low confidence for
details.
The latest operational model runs show reasonable agreement to
warrant a purely operational model blend for the WPC progs for
days 3 and 4. After this time, developing issues with the West
Coast trough originate from differences in the details of energy
dropping into the mean trough and in particular the track and
timing of an upper low that may drop south/southeast from Alaska.
By late in the period, this affects both placement and strength of
the trough over the West Coast. Especially out towards days 6 and
7, run to run continuity in much of the guidance is poor so
uncertainty in the details is high. Therefore, a blend towards the
better agreeable ensemble means is preferred beyond day 5. For the
Plains upper low/trough, the GFS/ECMWF and their means offer a
good middle ground for the solution. UKMET runs continue to be on
the southern side of the envelope and CMC runs are on the eastern
side. There is a reasonable consensus that the feature will
gradually weaken/open up by later in the period however, specifics
of associated potential heavy rainfall will be very sensitive to
exact details of the upper feature as well as mesoscale boundaries
which all have low predictability multiple days out in time.
...Weather Highlights/Hazards...
A multi-day heavy rainfall event is likely across portions of
Texas, Louisiana, and into the ArkLaTex region with a persistent
deep-layer flow of Gulf moisture interacting with the Southern
Plains upper level trough/low and a western Gulf Coast surface
front. Models continue to suggest the potential for several inches
or more of rain within a region which has seen well above normal
precipitation over recent weeks, leading to flooding concerns. As
the trough opens up and elongates, rainfall should become lighter
with time with moisture also extending northward over the
east-central U.S. toward the middle of next week. Elsewhere, the
Northeast should remain fairly dry with diurnally-favored showers
lingering over parts of the Southeast and flow around Bermuda high
pressure may eventually extend some moisture northward through the
Appalachians. Out West, increasing moisture over the Pacific
Northwest is expected this weekend, with ejecting
shortwaves/frontal systems extending some activity into the
northern Rockies and eventually the northern Plains and Upper
Mississippi Valley.
The most extreme temperature anomalies are likely from parts of
the Great Basin/northern Plains into the Upper Great Lakes and
Northeast. Highs and/or morning lows may reach up to 20-25F above
normal over parts of the northern Plains and vicinity early in the
weekend and northern New England early next week. Especially
across parts of the Northeast next week, these values could come
close to or exceed daily records for highs and warm lows.
Meanwhile Texas and Louisiana are likely to see slightly below
normal highs into early next week due to persistent clouds and
rainfall. West Coast highs will trend moderately below normal as
amplified upper troughing becomes established over the region.
Santorelli/Rausch
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, winter weather outlook probabilities
and heat indices are at:
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/wwd/pwpf_d47/pwpf_medr.php?day=4
https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/heat_index.shtml