Storm · Forecasts splitNorth Pacific
The Sea of Okhotsk low could take a southern track — or take a northern track
Sea of Okhotsk — Weak low bottoming out near 1,002 mb Sat morning, about 300 km E of Magadan; all 185 ensemble forecasts show it.
Updated Wed., Nov. 11, 9:41 p.m. UTC · 185 forecast tracks from NOAA, ECMWF and Environment Canada: high
Sea of Okhotsk — Weak low bottoming out near 1,002 mb Sat morning, about 300 km E of Magadan; all 185 ensemble forecasts show it.
Quick answers
As of the Wed 11 Nov 12Z model run · updated Wed., Nov. 11, 9:41 p.m. UTC
- Where is the Sea of Okhotsk low going?
- The centre is about 100 kilometres southwest of Magadan, moving east at about 5 km/h. The forecasts split: 8 in 10 take a southern track, while 2 in 10 take a northern track.
- How sure is the forecast?
- Path certainty: high. All 185 show the storm, and they broadly on its early path. Little has changed since the previous run.
- Do the AI and physics models agree?
- Largely, yes. 8 in 10 AI- (AIFS ENS, AIGEFS) take a southern track, against 8 in 10 physics-ensemble forecasts (GEFS, ECMWF ENS, GEPS). By Friday night the AI ensembles’ middle track is about 70 kilometres southwest of the physics ensembles’. Both take it to about 1,002 at its deepest.
- Will the Sea of Okhotsk low become a bomb cyclone?
- Unlikely. None of the 185 deepen it fast enough to count as a (a pressure fall of roughly 24 in 24 hours, adjusted for latitude).
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What we know
Where it is. At 10 p.m. Wednesday, the centre was about 100 kilometres southwest of Magadan, with a central pressure near 1,005 .
How sure. All 185 show the storm, and they broadly on its early path. Little has changed since the previous run.1
How strong. Forecasts keep its central pressure near 1,002 through Friday. None of them turn it into a rapidly deepening .
What’s uncertain
Which way it turns. Eight in 10 forecasts take a southern track; the other two in 10 take a northern track. By Saturday morning the two paths are about 30 kilometres apart.
Later on. The forecasts fan out after Thursday. By Sunday evening, the is about 1,050 kilometres across.2
When it arrives
No town we track is within reach of this storm; it stays about 100 kilometres southwest of Magadan.
What the forecasts said vs what happened
Collecting: so far at most 1 run of any one model made 1 day ahead can be checked. We show how the forecasts did once a model has 4. How good are the forecasts this season?
DetailsStrength, sources and the fine print
How strong it gets
Central pressure over time. The line is the middle forecast; the band holds 8 in 10 of them.
(lower is stronger)
Where the forecasts come from
| Model | Tracks | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
NOAA | 31 of 31 | 12Z arrived 4 h 10 min ago | Latest run |
ECMWF | 51 of 51 | 12Z arrived 17 min ago | Latest run |
ECMWF | 51 of 51 | 12Z arrived 3 h ago | Latest run |
NOAA | 31 of 31 | 12Z arrived 1 h 25 min ago | Latest run |
Environment Canada | 21 of 21 | 12Z arrived 4 h 27 min ago | Latest run |