Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 455 PM EDT Sat Jun 01 2013 Valid 00Z Sun Jun 02 2013 - 00Z Tue Jun 04 2013 ...Thunderstorms containing heavy downpours and severe weather will continue to fire up ahead of cold front pushing towards the Eastern U.S.. ...A break in the heat and humidity is in store for the Northeast and northern Mid-Atlantic states... ...Showers and thunderstorms continue to soak Florida... Active weather will continue to accompany a cold front slowly inching towards the Eastern U.S. this weekend. Moist unstable air funneling northward out of the Gulf of Mexico will fuel an expansive and organized area of showers and thunderstorms ahead of the boundary...which should move through the Ohio...Tennessee...and Lower Mississippi valleys Saturday night and then begin crossing the Appalachians on Sunday. Heavy downpours and damaging thunderstorms will still be possible...but the widespread threat for flash flooding and severe weather should begin to diminish as the upper energy supporting this system gradually weakens. Along with stormy weather...the front will also provide a break in the recent heat and humidity as it clears the eastern third of the country. Farther south...showers and thunderstorms will remain in the forecast for much of Florida....and a persistent supply of deep moisture should allow for some locally heavy rains across the sunshine state. Out west...a Pacific cold front is expected to move onshore and drop southeastward through the northwestern corner of the country. The system will not produce much precipitation as it crosses over the Pacific Northwest...but as the energy aloft slides inland and closes off...some moderate to heavy rains could develop over the Northern Rockies and Northern High Plains by the end of the weekend. Elsewhere across the west...some scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible over portions of New Mexico and west Texas. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php