Things we need to see in the pattern:
- a cold Alaska is not usually favorable for us. We need to continue trending towards a ridge popping there.
- Pacific needs to be more cooperative in general (go figure). More jet ext but not too much. We’ve got to inject some better energy and force a sharper trough in the east. The northern stream parade wouldn’t be so bad if the shortwaves weren’t stopping in the Ohio valley and moving east. You aren’t getting a useful phase for our neck of the woods like that.
- PV? Good or bad…? Idk. I think most would argue good but I don’t know if I want to see a complete split. For one, there’s no guarantee that cold spills on this side of the globe and 2, more times than not, it’s a suppression signal if it does.
- I agree with @wncsnow a relaxation and reload mid month is probably coming. I’ll admit that it’s more of a hunch for me than a given. The trend all summer and fall has been for the LR guidance to raise a false ridge and dump the cold out west, only to correct down to hour 0. I think there’s a reasonable chance with the MJO progression, the PV, and a potentially better looking Pacific that we may have wall to wall cold in Dec. Regardless, if it wants, I think it’s brief - maybe 4/5 days max and certainly no torch.
- We all should be rooting to score now - New Years if we indeed get the PV split with phase 8. Any repeating of that pattern (TBD) is going to give you highs in the 30s and bone dry air in Jan/Feb. Just my 2 cents.
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