This is the discussion concerning the potential for a pattern change in coming days.
This is a forecast in the next few days of the Northern Hemisphere 500mb height anomalies. The 500mb level is located way up in the atmosphere, and is the best area to find low pressure (LP) or high pressure (HP) systems. I did mark off a few things in this picture, so let's go over them now.
A - Persistent LP in East Asia
The GFS Ensembles are forecasting a strong persistent LP pattern over eastern Asia in the next couple days in response to both the Bering Sea ridge and a developing HP system that will be retrograding towards Asia. It has been shown that there is a 6-10 day gap between observed height anomalies in East Asia and weather in the East Coast. So, if we have a deep LP pattern over the East Asian region, I find it plausible that there could be more than one strong storm system affecting the East Coast. Also enclosed in this circle near East Asia (and further marked by a series of arrows cutting across the Pacific) is a leg of low pressure extending in the east Pacific. This is in direct response to the formation of this retrograding high pressure system that is combining with the Bering Sea ridge. Because the Pacific is a big place, there is a lot of room for things to happen. I believe that this leg of LP anomalies will come together as possibly more than one storm systems that will hit the West Coast, which could then affect the areas east of the Front Range.
B - Bering Sea Blocking Ridge
As previously mentioned, there will be a solid high pressure system in the Bering Sea, as has been the case for a while now and will continue to be the case for a few days to come. I did also mention something about a retrograding (weather system moving west in the North Hemisphere) high pressure system. This retrograding HP system will swing north into the Bering Sea, and the force of the impact will knock the newly formed single ridge north and west into North Asia. This movement of the ridge north and west will force the polar vortex (PV) east and south, and this enhances the possibility of not only this PV moving into Canada/US (cold weather), but also the PV shifting into Greenland, which would create a positive NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation). In a nutshell, a positive NAO shapes the jet stream to hold the cold air at bay from the East US. So this could be a double-edged sword, and I will further address this later on in this article.
C - Gulf of Alaska Persistent LP
In physics, you will hear a lot of 'for every reaction, there is always an equal and opposite reaction', directly from Newton's Laws of Motion. The same idea applies here in weather. We have already established that there is a ridge in the Bering Sea. In response to this ridge, we have seen (and will continue to see) a persistent LP anomaly in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) in response to the Bering Sea ridge. You may have heard it on your local news stations, and this is a pretty significant thing, especially when you will see the retrograding HP system knock the Bering Sea HP system out into North Asia. When that movement happens with the Bering Sea ridge, this GOA persistent trough cannot stay in its place unless a replacement ridge comes along (which does not appear likely). Because of the lack of the HP in the Bering Sea, the GOA trough will have to move east into either Canada or the US. The GFS Ensembles like the idea of this trough flowing into the Southwest, where it could stay south and go up the East Coast, or go up into the Midwest, but that's another post for another time.
Now, here's the issue. The GFS Ensembles take that same post-GOA trough and let it stay in the Southwest. That is not good. What a persistent LP pattern in the West Coast means is a negative PNA. As I described with Newton's Laws of Motion, a persistent trough in the West would theoretically provoke a persistent ridge in the East, which would mean warm weather to the east of the Front Range.
This is an example of that stormy West/quiet East pattern, which is actually the forecast for just under 10 days away. This is what I fear may happen if that Gulf of Alaska LP system sticks around in the Southwest for too long. That would incite a negative PNA (Pacific-North American), which is shown above- the cold is kept away from the Central and East US (save CO/NE/KS/WY). The Northeast is most affected by the negative PNA, especially if this forecast verifies.
But, all in all, here's the thing. The pattern will be changing, and the lack of a Bering Sea ridge will allow more storms to move through the Lower 48, thus more potentials for cold and snow. These GFS Ensembles show the general picture, and not a more focused forecast like the first sentence of this paragraph.
Here are the teleconnection forecasts, which is just a big, fancy word for different atmospheric patterns. These are two teleconnections, with the top 2 images for the PNA and the bottom 2 for the NAO. The difference in between the 4 images is that the left half of the images are forecasts from the ESRL/PSD agency, and the right half are from the NCEP agency. If that confused you, here's a breakdown:
-Top left: ESRL/PSD PNA Forecast
-Top right: NCEP PNA Forecast
-Bottom left: ESRL/PSD NAO Forecast
-Bottom right: NCEP NAO Forecast
Personally, I trust the ESRL/PSD forecasts more than the NCEP, because the NCEP ensembles are just the GFS Ensembles. The ESRL/PSD has their own set of ensembles, which is likely more physics-based than the NCEP, just because that's what the ESRL/PSD specializes in. So, for the days leading into Mid-December, the PNA is expected to come back from a strong negative phase to a strong positive phase according to the ESRL agency. This is pretty possible. as the GOA trough will be leaving, but again, we have to wait to find where it lands. The NCEP agency keeps the PNA much more negative than the ESRL, and a weaker positive phase. I think this is also likely, but again, wait-and-see mode for the GOA trough.
As for the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the ESRL/PSD keeps it mainly neutral, which I find possible as the Bering Sea ridge moves into North Asia and then into north Europe. Bringing back the Newton's Laws of Motion, this ridge could then provoke an LP anomaly near Greenland, to which the HP and LP anomalies would cancel each other out, leading to a neutral NAO. The NCEP prefers a negative NAO in the long range, and this is dependent on the post-Bering Sea ridge's placement, so, wait-and-see.
In summary, I expect a stormier pattern in the long range thanks to the departure of the Bering Sea HP/Gulf of Alaska LP pattern. However, depending on where that GOA LP ends up, the overall pattern could end up warmer than normal if the LP sits around in the Southwest.
Things are looking up!
Andrew
A - Persistent LP in East Asia
The GFS Ensembles are forecasting a strong persistent LP pattern over eastern Asia in the next couple days in response to both the Bering Sea ridge and a developing HP system that will be retrograding towards Asia. It has been shown that there is a 6-10 day gap between observed height anomalies in East Asia and weather in the East Coast. So, if we have a deep LP pattern over the East Asian region, I find it plausible that there could be more than one strong storm system affecting the East Coast. Also enclosed in this circle near East Asia (and further marked by a series of arrows cutting across the Pacific) is a leg of low pressure extending in the east Pacific. This is in direct response to the formation of this retrograding high pressure system that is combining with the Bering Sea ridge. Because the Pacific is a big place, there is a lot of room for things to happen. I believe that this leg of LP anomalies will come together as possibly more than one storm systems that will hit the West Coast, which could then affect the areas east of the Front Range.
B - Bering Sea Blocking Ridge
As previously mentioned, there will be a solid high pressure system in the Bering Sea, as has been the case for a while now and will continue to be the case for a few days to come. I did also mention something about a retrograding (weather system moving west in the North Hemisphere) high pressure system. This retrograding HP system will swing north into the Bering Sea, and the force of the impact will knock the newly formed single ridge north and west into North Asia. This movement of the ridge north and west will force the polar vortex (PV) east and south, and this enhances the possibility of not only this PV moving into Canada/US (cold weather), but also the PV shifting into Greenland, which would create a positive NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation). In a nutshell, a positive NAO shapes the jet stream to hold the cold air at bay from the East US. So this could be a double-edged sword, and I will further address this later on in this article.
C - Gulf of Alaska Persistent LP
In physics, you will hear a lot of 'for every reaction, there is always an equal and opposite reaction', directly from Newton's Laws of Motion. The same idea applies here in weather. We have already established that there is a ridge in the Bering Sea. In response to this ridge, we have seen (and will continue to see) a persistent LP anomaly in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) in response to the Bering Sea ridge. You may have heard it on your local news stations, and this is a pretty significant thing, especially when you will see the retrograding HP system knock the Bering Sea HP system out into North Asia. When that movement happens with the Bering Sea ridge, this GOA persistent trough cannot stay in its place unless a replacement ridge comes along (which does not appear likely). Because of the lack of the HP in the Bering Sea, the GOA trough will have to move east into either Canada or the US. The GFS Ensembles like the idea of this trough flowing into the Southwest, where it could stay south and go up the East Coast, or go up into the Midwest, but that's another post for another time.
Now, here's the issue. The GFS Ensembles take that same post-GOA trough and let it stay in the Southwest. That is not good. What a persistent LP pattern in the West Coast means is a negative PNA. As I described with Newton's Laws of Motion, a persistent trough in the West would theoretically provoke a persistent ridge in the East, which would mean warm weather to the east of the Front Range.
But, all in all, here's the thing. The pattern will be changing, and the lack of a Bering Sea ridge will allow more storms to move through the Lower 48, thus more potentials for cold and snow. These GFS Ensembles show the general picture, and not a more focused forecast like the first sentence of this paragraph.
-Top left: ESRL/PSD PNA Forecast
-Top right: NCEP PNA Forecast
-Bottom left: ESRL/PSD NAO Forecast
-Bottom right: NCEP NAO Forecast
Personally, I trust the ESRL/PSD forecasts more than the NCEP, because the NCEP ensembles are just the GFS Ensembles. The ESRL/PSD has their own set of ensembles, which is likely more physics-based than the NCEP, just because that's what the ESRL/PSD specializes in. So, for the days leading into Mid-December, the PNA is expected to come back from a strong negative phase to a strong positive phase according to the ESRL agency. This is pretty possible. as the GOA trough will be leaving, but again, we have to wait to find where it lands. The NCEP agency keeps the PNA much more negative than the ESRL, and a weaker positive phase. I think this is also likely, but again, wait-and-see mode for the GOA trough.
As for the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the ESRL/PSD keeps it mainly neutral, which I find possible as the Bering Sea ridge moves into North Asia and then into north Europe. Bringing back the Newton's Laws of Motion, this ridge could then provoke an LP anomaly near Greenland, to which the HP and LP anomalies would cancel each other out, leading to a neutral NAO. The NCEP prefers a negative NAO in the long range, and this is dependent on the post-Bering Sea ridge's placement, so, wait-and-see.
In summary, I expect a stormier pattern in the long range thanks to the departure of the Bering Sea HP/Gulf of Alaska LP pattern. However, depending on where that GOA LP ends up, the overall pattern could end up warmer than normal if the LP sits around in the Southwest.
Things are looking up!
Andrew
11 comments:
things r looking up i dont understand?..seems like to me, winter is gonna be warmer then first thought
Sorry Andrew but you are all over the map with your weather reports. You change daily! Can't believe a word that you say! You say one thing and mean another! A bit of a mess!
Only for the first half of December.
Sorry you feel that way, but I don't stoop to insults.
Thank you for all you do Andrew. You put in a lot of time and energy and try to explain weather patterns and trends to those who want to learn. I have learned a lot in the last year from your information. Your efforts are appreciated.
❅❅❅Hoping for Christmas Snow!❅❅❅
Andrew you do a good in depth analysis but lately you have me running in circles
Andrew, thanks for educating me on the weather in the recent months since I found this sight. At this point I hope the U.S. actually has a winter. Again, thanks.
2nd to last Anonymous: Unfortunately, that is what many have been saying. These last few days have been pretty hectic, but this post is putting the end to the circles. The 'Why I was wrong in writing off December' post is also the final post in the December forecast posts.
I guess it goes to show how complicated long range forecasting can actually be. Trying to put all of the pieces together that are involved in a long range forecast (oscillations, SSTs, QBO, blocking patterns, etc.) is a major challenge that not even the best meteorologists can do with great accuracy. I have seen other well known weather blogs seemingly contradict themselves in the past. I think almost everyone of them did several times last winter. It happens.
if a dominant high pressure stays in the east, then wouldnt that mean the the LP would move into the upper mississippi valley?
Geez, can't anyone root for some freakin precip in the Rockies and Southwest, we need something, after nearly 30 straight days with absolutely nothing in an area already suffering through one of the worst droughts in history, a stormy trough over the southwest and rockies is a GOOD THING!
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