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Early Jan cold and/or snow threat


Cheeznado

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EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION

NWS HYDROMETEOROLOGICAL PREDICTION CENTER CAMP SPRINGS MD

230 PM EST TUE DEC 27 2011

VALID 12Z FRI DEC 30 2011 - 12Z TUE JAN 03 2012

A QUIET RATHER MILD PATTERN MOST PLACES THRU THE WEEKEND. BUT

SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL IS STILL POSSIBLE FROM THE MID-SOUTH INTO THE

CAROLINAS/MID-ATLANTIC/NORTHEASTERN STATES NEXT WEEK. DETAILS

QUITE SKETCHY...

MODEL CONSENSUS SHOWS THAT THE FLOW PATTERN IS EXPECTED TO BUCKLE

THROUGH THIS WEEKEND AS A FULL-LATITUDE TROUGH DIGS FROM ALASKA

SOUTHWARD ALONG 140W. THIS IN TURN LEADS TO SIGNIFICANT RIDGING

ACROSS WESTERN NORTH AMERICA...CAUSING THE HEAVY PRECIP ACROSS THE

PACIFIC NW TO CEASE. A TROF SHOULD DEVELOP SOMEWHERE E OF THE

PLAINS STATES...BUT HOW FAR E?

HOWEVER...THE GEFS FAMILY OF ENSEMBLE SOLUTIONS IS MUCH

FLATTER/DELAYED/FARTHER E AS THEIR TROUGH BEGINS TO DEVELOP SUN

DAY 5. WHEN THE 00Z GEFS MEAN FINALLY DOES DEVELOP THE TROUGH...IT

IS STILL WEAKER WITH IT MON/TUE THAN THE CORRESPONDING ECMWF

FAMILY OF SOLUTIONS. BY SUN...THE 00Z/27 GFS/CANADIAN/GEFS MEAN

PROGRESS THE DEVELOPING TROUGH FARTHER EAST THAN THE 00Z/27

UKMET/ECMWF/12Z ECMWF ENSEMBLE MEAN.

SINCE THERE IS DECENT MODEL CONSENSUS ON FLOW IN THE ERN PACIFIC

BECOMING MORE AMPLIFIED ...A CORRESPONDING SLOW MOVING/AMPLIFIED

TROUGH EAST OF THE PLAINS MAKES SENSE...THOUGH NOT AS

SLOW/AMPLIFIED AS THE DETERMINISTIC 00Z/27 ECMWF. THE ECMWF HAS A

BIAS OF BEING TOO SLOW/STRONG WITH SYSTEMS FARTHER OUT THAN 120

HOURS. LARGE SCALE TELECONNECTIONS ON AN ERN PACIFIC TROUGH AND

NEGATIVE HEIGHT ANOMALIES OVER GREENLAND FAVOR A MUCH WEAKER E

COAST TROF THAN THE ECMWF OR ITS ENSEMBLE MEAN.

THE KEY SEEMS TO BE HOW MUCH AMPLIFICATION OF AN ERN PACIFIC

TROUGH ALONG 140W OCCURS AROUND DAY 5...WITH SUBSEQUENT

AMPLIFICATION DOWNSTREAM OVER NOAM. THE 00Z/12Z DETERMINISTIC

ECMWF SEEMS TO GO TOO FAR IN DEVELOPING A DEEP CLOSED CYCLONE

ACROSS THE MID-SOUTH WHICH MOVES INTO THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS

NEXT TUE OR WED. HOWEVER...THERE IS STRONG ECENS ENSEMBLE

SPAGHETTI SUPPORT FOR A DEEP...YET LESS DRASTIC...FULL LATITUDE

TROUGH TRANSLATING ACROSS THE ERN CONUS MON-WED. THERE IS

CONSISTENCY IN RECENT DETERMINISTIC ECMWF RUNS WITH THIS GENERAL

AMPLIFYING TREND EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE 00Z/27 ECENS MEAN STILL

SEEMS LIKE A GOOD HEDGE AFTER SUN DAY 5...IN VIEW OF ITS GOOD LONG

TERM GOOD VERIFICATION.

THE 12Z/27 GFS/GEFS MEAN PERSISTED IN A GENERALLY PROGRESSIVE

FLAVOR IN ITS FORECASTS. THE GFS SEEMS TO OVERPLAY ONE IMPULSE

REACHING THE E COAST SAT DAY 5 GIVEN ITS FAST WESTERLY

ENVIRONMENT...WHILE IT SHOWS ONLY MODERATE DEVELOPMENT TO THE NEXT

TROUGH REACHING 85W BY SUN. IT HAS EVEN BACKED OFF IN AMPLITUDE

HERE FROM ITS 06Z/27 RUN. THE 12Z/27 UKMET WAS IN SNYC WITH THE

GFS ON THE MAIN FEATURES ACROSS THE COUNTRY THRU MON DAY 6.

THEN COMETH THE 12Z/27 CANADIAN...HANDLING THE PATTERN ACROSS MOST

OF THE LOWER 48 FROM DAY 4 ONWARD VERY SIMILAR TO THE 00Z/27 ECMWF

WITH SPECTACULAR DIGGING/CLOSING OFF ALOFT NEAR THE LOWER MS VLY

EARLY TUE. THE SCORE IS EVEN WITH THE 12Z CANADIAN/00Z AND 12Z

ECMWF/00Z/27 ECENS MEAN PITTED AGAINST THE 12Z/27 GFS/GEFS

MEAN/UKMET. THE NEW 12Z/27 ECMWF PLAYS UP A DIFFERENT SHORTWAVE

IN THE AMPLIFYING CENTRAL/ERN TROF TUE/WED BUT HAS THE SAME IDEA

AS PREVIOUSLY...FORECASTING THE A DAY 8 STORM FOR THE E COAST

INSTEAD OF DAY 7. WITH THIS MUCH SPREAD AND UNCERTAINTY FINAL

GRAPHICS ARE STAYING UNCHANGED...HEAVILY WEIGHTED ON THE BACK END

TOWARDS THE ECENS MEAN.

FLOOD

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yeah the op ECMWF is the big outlier much different than almost every member in the spaghetti plots with the trough axis much further west at day 7.

As cheeze said, often times the operational can lead the ensemble members since it is the most skilled member. It has actually happened several times this cool season with the cut-offs over the Southern Plains, Deep South. But we need to see several runs in a row of it showing a similar scenario and then I would imagine the ensemble members trend towards it.

But with no blocking (+AO/+NAO), no 50/50 low, this is all about timing, so the odds are not great but certainly not impossible.

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RAH long term discussion:

.LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/...

AS OF 240 PM TUESDAY...

FORECAST UNCERTAINTY GROWS IN THIS TIME PERIOD. THE AFOREMENTIONED

SHORTWAVE TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE FRONT PASS THROUGH THE AREA

FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING. WITH PRECEDING LOW LEVEL FLOW

VEERING AROUND TO MAINLY WESTERLY... MOISTURE RETURN IS ABSENT...

THUS EXPECT THE SURFACE FRONT TO PASS THROUGH LARGELY DRY WITH JUST

PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES. THICKNESSES REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL AS SHORTWAVE

RIDGING MOVES IN ALOFT AND WITH AN INCOMING MODIFIED SURFACE AIR

MASS... SO TEMPS SATURDAY/SUNDAY SHOULD REMAIN MILD WITH HIGHS IN

THE MID 50S TO LOWER 60S.

THEN STARTING LATE IN THE WEEKEND... THE GENERAL TREND OF THE MODELS

IS TO A PATTERN FEATURING FULL-LATITUDE LONGWAVE RIDGING IN THE

WESTERN US AND TROUGHING IN THE EAST. BUT MAJOR MODEL DIFFERENCES

BETWEEN THE DETERMINISTIC GFS AND ECMWF REGARDING PLACEMENT OF THESE

LONGWAVE FEATURES INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY... CULMINATING IN SOLUTIONS

THAT ARE 180 DEGREES OUT OF PHASE WITH EACH OTHER BY MONDAY/TUESDAY.

THE GFS HAS TRENDED A BIT FARTHER WEST AND DEEPER WITH ITS EASTERN

NOAM TROUGH... CLOSER TO THE ECMWF ENSEMBLE MEAN... WHILE THE

DETERMINISTIC ECMWF IS MUCH SLOWER AND STRONGER THAN ITS ENSEMBLE

MEAN... CLOSING OFF A POTENT VORTEX JUST TO OUR WEST BY TUESDAY.

THIS ECMWF SOLUTION INITIALLY APPEARS EXTREME... HOWEVER THIS IS THE

SECOND ECMWF RUN SHOWING SUCH AN INTENSE CLOSED LOW. IF THIS COMES

TO PASS... WE COULD BE LOOKING AT A SIGNIFICANT STORM FOR NC FOR

MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY AND POSSIBLY BEYOND. FOR NOW... AND TO

ACCOUNT FOR THE WIDE VARIETY OF MODEL SOLUTIONS... WILL LEAN TOWARD

THE MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD ECMWF ENSEMBLE MEAN... WHICH SWEEPS A LARGELY

DRY COLD FRONT THROUGH THE AREA EARLY MONDAY AND BRINGS IN COOLER

AND MORE SEASONABLE AIR FOR LATE MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. BUT

AGAIN... THE CONFIDENCE IN THE MEDIUM RANGE IS QUITE LOW... SO STAY

TUNED. -GIH

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GSP seems in no rush to promote this in the afternoon long term afd:

.LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/...

AT 2 PM EST TUESDAY...THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN IS EXPECTED TO AMPLIFY

OVER THE USA OVER THE WEEKEND. THE GFS AND ECMWF GO OUT OF PHASE

RATHER QUICKLY. HPC BLENDED ECMWF WITH UKMET AND THE EC ENSEMBLE

MEAN...LEADING TO A LOWER PROGRESSION OF UPPER FEATURES. IN THIS

SCENARIO...AN UPPER TROUGH CROSSES THE EASTER SEABOARD ON

SATURDAY...FOLLOWED BY UPPER RIDGING ON SUNDAY. ANOTHER UPPER TROUGH

AMPLIFIES OVER THE MS RIVER VALLEY ON MONDAY...CLOSING OFF AND UPPER

LOW OVER THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS ON TUESDAY.

DRY HIGH PRESSURE IS OVER OUR AREA ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY. A

COLD FRONT APPROACHES FORM THE NW ON SUNDAY...WITH MODEST GULF

INFLOW ONLY DEVELOPING AS IT CROSSES THE TN VALLEY MONDAY NIGHT.

THIS WILL MEAN A QUICK SHOT OF PRECIPITATION FOR OUR AREA MONDAY

NIGHT...WITH ONLY ENOUGH CONFIDENCE FOR SLIGHT CHANCE POPS AT THIS

TIME. THICKNESS FALLS RAPIDLY BEHIND THE FRONT...SUCH THAT SNOW

LEVELS FALL TO THE VALLEY FLOORS IN THE NC AND GA MOUNTAINS BY

DAYBREAK MONDAY.

NW FLOW SHOWERS CONTINUE IN THE NC MOUNTAINS INTO MONDAY... WHILE

THE LEE DRIES OUT. SNOW LEVELS RISE TO JUST THE HIGHEST PEAKS BY

MIDDAY MONDAY. SNOW LEVELS FALL AGAIN MONDAY NIGHT. THE ECMWF

SUGGEST THE POTENTIAL FOR A PROLONGED NW FLOW SNOW IN THE NC

MOUNTAINS ASSOCIATED WITH THE COOL POOL BEHIND THE DEVELOPING UPPER

LOW. IT ALSO SUGGESTS A COASTAL LOW ON THE FRONT OT OUR EAST. WITH

CONFIDENCE QUITE LOW THAT FAR INTO THE FUTURE...THIS FORECAST WILL

ALLOW SNOW SHOWERS TO BEGIN TO TAPER OFF MONDAY NIGHT...ENDING EARLY

TUESDAY....AND WILL NOT KEEP ANY FRONTAL WAVE PRECIPITATION IN THE

INTERSTATE 77 CORRIDOR. NO RAIN OR SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE

FORECAST WITH SLIGHT CHANCE POPS.

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Man, we got the skeptic starting this thread...mojo is going to be off the charts! :whistle: Let's see if the 18z has any changes for us.

Well if there is one thing we can gaurantee to for sure happen the next few days it will be for the models to change on timing, LP track etc..heck it wouldnt surprise me to see the models drop it althogether a few runs..be nice to see the GFS go ahead and start getting in line with the Euro.

One thing is for sure WeatherNC and Lookout will have their hands full by Sat if this thing is still being forecast to hit.....

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Main difference seems to be how the models handle a couple of s/w in the eastern Pacific day 3/4 the Euro phases two together and forms a strong trough which pokes up a strong ridge over western Canada and slows and forces the important s/w to amplify around day 4/5. The gfs keeps them separate and allows a more progressive flatter solution. AKA likely no storm this run.

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Main difference seems to be how the models handle a couple of s/w in the eastern Pacific day 3/4 the Euro phases two together and forms a strong trough which pokes up a strong ridge over western Canada and slows and forces the important s/w to amplify around day 4/5. The gfs keeps them separate and allows a more progressive flatter solution. AKA likely no storm this run.

So it looks like we'll be waiting and watching until around Saturday. FWIW doesn't the 18z run off of 12z data? So it probably would handle those pieces of energy the same?

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12z ECMWF ens mean, 144 & 168 hrs, nowhere near as extreme compared to the op, but much different than the GFS, given run-to-run continuity, a safe bet for the HPC at this range. Deep trough, 540dm heights clipping KY @ day 6, 534dm heights splitting NC day 7, likely a surface reflection in there, possible KU event for the 95 corridor taking shape 1/3. Still a ways out, but given the run-to-run ens mean support from the EC, odds are there is going to be a storm in the period, general picture still a couple days out. :popcorn:

12zECMWFENS500mbHeightAnomalyNA144.gif

12zECMWFENS500mbHeightAnomalyNA168.gif

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