Model Diagnostic Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 251 PM EST Wed Feb 12 2020 Valid Feb 12/1200 UTC thru Feb 16/0000 UTC ...See NOUS42 KWNO (ADMNFD) for the status of the upper air ingest... 12Z Model Evaluation with final preferences & confidence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Overall Pattern Across the CONUS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Preference: General model blend into day 2 (14.12Z), then non-NAM on day 3 Confidence: Above Average Phasing of southern stream energy from the weakening/opening closed low over the Southwest and Southern Plains along with northern stream shortwave energy dropping southeast of the Canadian Rockies will act to deepen troughing over the eastern 2/3 of the CONUS in the next couple of days. Meanwhile, ridging aloft over the western CONUS is expected to break down by= day 2 as another shortwave trough quickly traverses the Pacific Northwest. While the bulk of that energy is likely to remain within the northern stream, a piece is forecast to break off and eventually form a meandering closed low around Baja toward day 3. The latest guidance shows favorable agreement across the CONUS particularly through 48 hours (14.12Z) such that a general model blend would be more than sufficient for mass field purposes. Beyond that time frame, compared to the rest of the guidance the 12Z NAM becomes a decidedly amplified/slow outlier with the mid/upper trough moving across the eastern US. Model trends at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/html/model2.shtml 500 mb forecasts at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/h5pref/h5pref.shtml Hurley