ALASKA EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION NWS WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER COLLEGE PARK MD 205 PM EDT MON MAR 24 2014 VALID 12Z FRI MAR 28 2014 - 12Z TUE APR 01 2014 THE ALASKA MEDIUM RANGE FORECAST MAINTAINS GOOD CONTINUITY THROUGH DAY 7. ESSENTIALLY A DRY WEATHER PERIOD FOR MUCH OF THE STATE...ASIDE FROM THE ALEUTIANS AND FAR SOUTHERN PANHANDLE. THE SAME CHALLENGES AS THE PREVIOUS 2-3 SHIFTS...WITH THE DETAILS OF SYSTEMS SHEARING EAST-SOUTHEASTWARD FROM A LARGE PARENT...UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH NESTLED OFFSHORE OF THE KAMCHATKA PENINSULA. A QUASI-STATIONARY UPPER-LEVEL HIGH OVER INTERIOR ALASKA AND THE ARCTIC OCEAN IS PROVIDING A SOLID 'BLOCK' FOR ANY 'PROGRESSIVE' EASTWARD ADVANCEMENT OF THIS LARGE UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH TOWARDS THE ALASKAN INTERIOR. AND AS A RESULT...MUCH IF NOT ALL THE WEATHER WITHIN THIS PARTICULAR MEDIUM RANGE FORECAST PERIOD IMPACTS THE ALEUTIANS AND PORTIONS OF THE SOUTH BERING SEA. THE 24/00Z CANADIAN/ECMWF DETERMINISTIC RUNS HAVE A LITTLE MORE IN COMMON WITH THE DAY 4-5 WAVE DETAILS...AND ITS PROGRESSION IN THE MID-LATITUDE WESTERLIES DOWNSTREAM INTO THE LOWER 48. THE 24/00Z GFS/GEFS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH THE POSITION AND DEPTH OF THE WAVE UNTIL IT HAS ENTERED THE MID-LATITUDES (EAST OF 150W). BEYOND DAY 5...THE ECMWF HAS SHOWN MUCH BETTER CONSISTENCY WITH ITS ENSEMBLE MEAN LEADING THE WAY IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS PACKAGE'S SURFACE AND 500MB GRAPHICS. VOJTESAK