Extended Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
300 PM EDT Sat Oct 10 2020
Valid 12Z Tue Oct 13 2020 - 12Z Sat Oct 17 2020
...Overview...
After the remaining moisture associated with Delta departs New
England later on Tuesday, a cold air mass associated with a broad
upper-level trough is forecast to work its way across the country
from the Pacific Northwest to the Northeast next week, accompanied
with a period of rain and high elevations snow for the northern
tier states. The next shortwave from western Canada could be
dipping into the Pacific Northwest/northern Rockies by next
weekend.
...Guidance Evaluation/Preferences...
Model guidance generally shows better than average agreement on
the synoptic evolution relevant to the U.S. through the medium
range. A general blend of the global model outputs from the 00Z
ECMWF/EC mean and the 06Z GFS/GEFS were used to compose this
morning's WPC prognostic charts. Even by Day 7, models still
maintain a relative good agreement with one another. The ECMWF
opens the possibility for a low pressure system to develop on the
lead cold front in the vicinity of New England by next weekend.
The GFS remains relatively progressive with the cold front
however. Therefore, more of their ensemble means were
incorporated to handle the uncertainty.
The shortwave dipping across western Canada toward the Pacific
Northwest next weekend is also showing less model spread than
usual, including the CMC. Therefore, the above-mentioned blend
was thought to be sufficient to handle the situation through Day 7
for now.
...Weather/Hazard Highlights...
Some light to moderate rain is expected over the Northeast due to
a better-defined low pressure wave associated with post-tropical
Delta that the global models are now forecasting to develop off
the New England coast Tue-Wed. A cold air mass associated with a
broad upper-level trough is forecast to work its way across the
country from the Pacific Northwest to the Northeast next week,
pushing a swath of rain from west to east across the northern tier
states, with some lake-enhanced rain totals possible over the
Great Lakes. The Northwest can expect precipitation particularly
on Tuesday in the form of lower elevation rain and higher
elevation snow, with higher totals over favored terrain. Another
round of precipitation will appear to reach the interior Pacific
Northwest to the northern Rockies by next weekend as the
aforementioned shortwave dips toward the region.
Farther south, the lead cold front accompanied by limited moisture
is expected to traverse much of the eastern two-thirds of the
country and spread somewhat cooler than average temperatures from
west to east reaching the Eastern Seaboard by next Saturday. Rain
may develop more in earnest over New England next Saturday
depending on whether a low pressure system will develop there.
Warmer than average temperatures are initially forecast in the
East, and morning lows could be 10-20 degrees above normal across
the Southeast to Mid-Atlantic Tue. Given the upper ridging over
the West, warmer than normal temperatures are forecast for
California toward the central Great Basin and Desert Southwest.
Upper 90s to low 100s are forecast for the lower deserts of
AZ/CA/NV, which could be near high temperature records at some
locations. Meanwhile, rain will linger across southern Florida
due to a lingering front together with ingestion of some tropical
moisture from the south.
Kong
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