Extended Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 134 AM EDT Sun Jul 01 2018 Valid 12Z Wed Jul 04 2018 - 12Z Sun Jul 08 2018 ...Overview and weather threats/highlights... A closed upper high over the Northeast on Wednesday will head westward toward the Rockies by next weekend as upper troughing over Canada dips into New England by Saturday, bringing in cooler temperatures (back near average). Much of the west and central states will see an increase in warmth from Thursday onward. Precipitation will generally focus around the upper high from the Pacific Northwest (in conjunction with an offshore weakening upper low) across the northern tier into the Northeast as well as on the south side of the upper high across the Gulf Coast. By next weekend, precipitation should precede the front southeastward into the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. ...Guidance evaluation/preferences... The latest model/ensemble guidance remained in excellent agreement with the track of the upper high and good agreement with the features around it. Given some run-to-run shifts in timing/track of these features, a multi-model blend was utilized with a increased weighting of ensembles by next weekend. This maintained good continuity from the previous shift. Fracasso WPC medium range forecasts of 500 mb heights, surface systems, weather grids, quantitative precipitation, and winter weather outlook probabilities are found at: http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/medr/5dayfcst500_wbg.gif http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/medr/5dayfcst_wbg_conus.gif http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/5km_grids/5km_gridsbody.html http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/day4-7.shtml http://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/wwd/pwpf_d47/pwpf_medr.php?day=4