


Prognostic Meteorological Discussion
Issued by NWS
Issued by NWS
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672 FXUS21 KWNC 221904 PMDTHR US Hazards Outlook NWS Climate Prediction Center College Park MD 300 PM EDT August 22 2025 SYNOPSIS: A frontal system is favored to move over the central and eastern CONUS at the outset of the forecast period, resulting in potentially heavy precipitation for portions of the Great Plains and Mississippi Valley early in week-2. Disturbed weather and a possible surface low pressure to form off the Carolina coast results in enhanced precipitation and high winds, some of which may affect coastal portions of the Southeast U.S. Surface low pressure over the Lower Colorado Basin combined with surface high pressure over the Rocky Mountains results in the potential for episodic high winds over the Great Basin. HAZARDS Slight risk of heavy precipitation for portions of the Southern and Central Plains, and the Lower and Middle Mississippi Valley, Sat-Sun, Aug 30-31. Slight risk of heavy precipitation for portions of the Southeast U.S. and Mid-Atlantic, Sat-Wed, Aug 30-Sep 3. Slight risk of high winds for coastal areas from the Florida-Georgia border north to and including the Delmarva Peninsula, Sat-Wed, Aug 30-Sep 3. Slight risk of episodic high winds for much of the Great Basin and Desert Southwest, Sat-Wed, Aug 30-Sep 3. DETAILED SUMMARY FOR MONDAY AUGUST 25 - FRIDAY AUGUST 29: https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/threats/threats.php FOR SATURDAY AUGUST 30 - FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 05: Model ensembles indicate a fairly strong mid-level trough over the northeastern U.S. early in week-2, which model solutions flatten out quickly as the forecast period progresses. A frontal system associated with this trough is favored to bring potentially heavy precipitation to the midsection of the Lower 48. Much of the potential for enhanced precipitation is during the week-1 period but has the potential to linger into the beginning of week-2. A slight risk of heavy precipitation is posted for portions of the Southern Plains, Lower Mississippi Valley, Tennessee Valley, and Southeast U.S. for Aug 30-31, when probabilistic output from the GEFS and ECMWF both indicate at least a 20% chance of daily precipitation accumulations to exceed 0.5 inches. While the ECWMF favors enhanced precipitation to continue well into week-2, there is insufficient evidence to extend this hazard into September. Lingering instability from the frontal system mentioned above along with abundant tropical moisture leads to the potential for enhanced precipitation and high winds along the southeastern U.S. coastline. Model solutions from the ECMWF and GEFS both indicate the potential for a surface low to spin up off the Carolina coast and possibly become a tropical cyclone (TC) during the week-2 period, and at the very minimum enhancing precipitation along the southeastern coast. At this time a slight risk of heavy precipitation is posted for Aug 30-Sep 3 for much of Florida, and coastal portions of the Southeast U.S. and Mid-Atlantic, and a slight risk of high winds is posted for coastal areas from the Florida-Georgia border north to Delaware Bay for the same days. Some portions of the Southeast U.S. have recently received abundant antecedent rainfall, setting the stage for potential localized flooding or flash flooding as a result of additional rainfall, as well as the potential for coastal flooding from storm surge should a TC spin up. Model agreement is unfortunately low regarding the details of this potential tropical activity, precluding better detail regarding timing and regional effects, so no flooding hazards are posted at this time but the situation will be closely monitored in the coming days. The continued presence of a thermal low over the Desert Southwest paired with high pressure over the Rockies sets up a tight pressure gradient and the potential for high winds over the Great Basin. This is well-indicated by both the ECMWF and GEFS Probabilistic Extremes Tools (PETs) which indicate at least a 20% chance of 3-day maximum wind speeds exceeding the 85th climatological percentile and at least 20mph over the Great Basin for most of week-2. A slight risk of high winds is posted for much of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts, the Great Basin and Snake River Valley, and portions of the Northern Rockies for Aug 30-Sep 3. Although raw output from the GEFS indicate the potential for these enhanced winds to continue throughout week-2, in general model solutions diverge later in the forecast period reducing confidence in this result. Given numerous active wildfires in the region and the potential for enhanced winds to increase the risk of initiation and spread of wildfires. FORECASTER: Danny Barandiaran $$