A fascinating ECM 12z op run has rolled out...!
https://max.nwstatic.co.uk/ecmimages/20140622/12/ecmt850.120.png
At day 5, it's similar to UKMO, and I reckon there's a bit of a split-jet situation to the west of the UK, which explains the troubles the models have been having;
At the split point, the jet breaks into two 'arms', one tending to run NE and the other SE. The one going NE tends to favour troughs progressing eastward and flattening ridges, while the one going SE favours troughs sliding south/southeast and heading beneath (by which I meant to the south of) ridges of high pressure, which then allows those ridges to build into strong features.
At the mid to long range, the models nearly always have the northern arm too strong and the southern arm too weak. Corrections on future runs then weaken the northern arm and may strengthen the southern arm too, though not always (ofteb the overall jet strength is reduced and most of this loss taken from the northern arm).
Over the past four ECM and UKMO runs, such an adjustment has taken place. The ECM 12z is a very good example of what tends to occur when most of the energy goes south but without there being all that much energy overall.
The northern/southern arm modelling tends to waver about a bit across the runs, so the output could easily swing back to more of an 'Atlantic train' scenario again tomorrow, but I for one am hoping that it doesn't!
...so what about the rest of that ECM 12z op run then? Well...
https://max.nwstatic.co.uk/ecmimages/20140622/12/ecmt850.192.png
There is a huge transfer of energy across the U.S. days 6-7, bringing a sudden increase in the strength of the upstream jet stream.
Both ECM and GFS have a trough near Greenland on day 6, but ECM is the only one to combine that feature with the one crossing the U.S.
This is important because if the troughs combine, a lot of energy is expended by the resulting intense low pressure system, whereas if they don't, much more of it moves on into the Atlantic and develops storms that can track towards the UK, with GFS managing to throw them right at us with unseasonable ferocity.
The way ECM evolves is truly excellent for longer-term prospects:
https://max.nwstatic.co.uk/ecmimages/20140622/12/ecm500.240.png
A weakening trough is cut-off to the SW, with no means of tracking towards the UK, while there is a strong trough complex extending between Greenland and Canada, which is pretty much the best place to have it when looking for decent summer weather
We do need a lot to come together to achieve something like that ECM run though - best not to set your hopes that high, but there's plenty of reason to have higher levels of hope than 24 hours ago
Originally Posted by: Stormchaser