Prognostic Meteorological Discussion
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
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928 FXUS02 KWBC 010800 PMDEPD Extended Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 300 AM EST Mon Dec 1 2025 Valid 12Z Thu Dec 04 2025 - 12Z Mon Dec 08 2025 ...Heavy rains Thursday and into the weekend for parts of the Gulf Coast and Southeast... ...Overview... A sprawling deep and cold low will persist over Hudson Bay through the medium range period, maintaining below normal temperatures for the central and eastern U.S.. Upper ridging enters the Pacific Northwest midweek and will expand at times over The West allowing above normal temperatures to return there. Upper troughing moving through the Southwest by Thursday will slowly shift east over the southern Plains through Friday which will promote heavy rain chances downstream along the Gulf Coast and Southeast Thursday into this weekend. Wintry weather potential is possible on the north side of the precipitation shield with another possible nor`easter for the Northeast this weekend. A couple of clipper type systems will impact the northern tier states as well through the period. ...Guidance/Predictability Assessment... The Southwest trough continues to show good agreement on the large scale, but plenty of uncertainty in the details impacting sensible weather. A couple of other pieces of energy within the larger trough across the Central-Eastern U.S. show a lot of variability. This impacts evolution of possible surface low development over the Southeast later this week, and progression of that low up the East Coast. The ECMWF had been the most bullish on Nor`easter development, but the new 00z run this evening did shift more towards the suppressed solutions. This will need to continue to be monitored. For now, a general model compromised seemed to serve as a good starting point. Otherwise, uncertainty in weak systems through the U.S. become more unclear later in the period. The GFS was notably stronger with the next shortwave into the West than consensus. WPC leaned more heavily on the ECMWF with the ensemble means for the latter half of the medium range period. ...Weather/Hazards Highlights... Lake effect snow will linger over the Great Lakes into Thursday as mountain snows occur over the southern Rockies. Heavy rain will spread over the Central Gulf Coast by Thursday, expanding into the Southeast Friday into the weekend. The WPC Day 4/Thursday ERO continues to show a marginal risk from Houston and across southern Louisiana. The marginal risk expands considerably into much of the Southeast along the frontal boundary which may stall for a period of time allowing for some training of storms. Instability may be lacking overall though which should limit the flash flood threat. After this, low pressure likely develops near the East Coast this weekend, though the direction of the track (whether straight out to sea or northeast along the coast) remains uncertain, so stay tuned for potential winter weather this weekend. But there is some signal for winter weather on the north side of the precipitation shield. Surges of below average temperatures continue for the central and eastern U.S. into late week as the sprawling low over Hudson Bay persists. A surge from the northern Plains through the Northeast occurs into Friday with max temperatures of 15 to 25 degrees below zero. Wind chills of -20 to -30F are forecast for portions of the northern Plains and Upper Midwest Thursday morning. The next cold surge may be of similar magnitude and should follow a similar track this weekend. Temperature relief comes to The West with ridging and above normal temperatures expected across the Southwest through the Great Basin late week through this weekend. Santorelli Additional 3-7 Day Hazard information can be found on the WPC medium range hazards outlook chart at: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/threats/threats.php WPC medium range 500mb heights, surface systems, weather grids, quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF), excessive rainfall outlook (ERO), winter weather outlook (WWO) probabilities, heat indices, and Key Messages can be accessed from: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/medr/5dayfcst500_wbg.gif https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/medr/5dayfcst_wbg_conus.gif https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/5km_grids/5km_gridsbody.html https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/qpf/day4-7.shtml https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/#page=ero https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/wwd/pwpf_d47/pwpf_medr.php?day=4 https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/heat_index.shtml https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/#page=ovw $$