ALASKA EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD 1240 PM EST THU JAN 09 2014 VALID 12Z MON JAN 13 2014 - 12Z FRI JAN 17 2014 BETTER THAN AVERAGE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE 9/06Z GEFS AND 9/00Z EC ENSEMBLE MEANS FOR THE DAY 4 THROUGH DAY 8 PERIOD. ALASKA FORECAST WILL BE DOMINATED BY A BROAD SURFACE LOW SLIPPING INTO THE SOUTHERN BERING SEA AND A RATHER STRONG...SURFACE RIDGE ACROSS THE PANHANDLE AND WEST COAST OF THE CONUS. THIS ALLOWS A WARM ADVECTION PATTERN TO SETUP ACROSS THE NORTHERN GULF OF ALASKA AND PARTS OF THE SOUTH AND CENTRAL INTERIOR...WITH A SERIES OF MID-LEVEL SHORTWAVES ROTATING ACROSS THE ALEUTIANS...SOUTHWEST COAST AND YUKON DELTA. THE DETERMINISTIC 9/00Z ECMWF DID LOOK A BIT STRONGER THAN ITS MEAN. BUT OVERALL...USED THIS PIECE OF GUIDANCE TO DEPICT SOME OF THE SMALLER-SCALE DETAILS (INCLUDING PRECIPITATION CHANCES) IN THE DAY 6-8 FORECAST. VOJTESAK