Interesting note thrown into the forecast discussion by BUF today (bold text below). It does seem like zonal flow is a rarity nowadays. Always seems to be an anomalous trof or ridge somewhere in CONUS, no matter the season.
The most impressive part of this upcoming pattern is not the
blocking, its evolution, nor anything of that nature...as the
pattern over the CONUS has been largely a slowly-evolving block
for the majority of a matter of years now. Instead, the shear
magnitude of upper ridging with some members of the GEFS family
eclipsing 590 dam over WNY by Sunday is reminiscent of a latter
half of July scenario rather than a late spring scenario. That
said, it is difficult to find any solution from operational or
ensemble guidance that fails to yield at least 584 dam over WNY
by Sunday, when the strongest concurrence for a continuation of
dry weather exists. That said, MOS guidance can largely be
thrown out the window as it will be far too dependent upon its
sun angle calculation (which many refer to as its climatology
component), and a more straightforward examination of mixing
profiles will need to be undertaken. We should easily mix out
through 850 mb, if not higher, so mid 80s (at least) seem like a
good bet most areas away from the immediate lakeshores, with
inland warmer areas probably locally approaching 90F.