Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 459 PM EDT Fri Jul 26 2013 Valid 00Z Sat Jul 27 2013 - 00Z Mon Jul 29 2013 ...Thunderstorms and heavy rains will accompany a strong cold front pushing through the middle of the Nation... ...Steady rains are expected to lift through Maine on Friday... A strong cold front pushing through the middle of the Nation will be the main weather maker across the central U.S. during the short range period. Showers and thunderstorms will continue to break out ahead of the boundary as it presses through the Southern Plains...Middle Mississippi Valley...and Midwest on Friday. Some of the these storms could contain severe weather and heavy downpours. The greatest chance for any flash flooding will be across eastern Oklahoma and into Arkansas...where energy streaking through aloft should help enhance rainfall rates. Portions of the Great Lakes region will also see some heavier totals as the anchoring surface low intensifies over the lakes. On Saturday...much of the shower and thunderstorm activity will shift into the eastern third of the country as the front pushes farther south and east through the Nation. Behind the boundary...northwesterly flow will bring cooler shots of Canadian air into the Northern Plains and eventually Midwest. Elsewhere...a deepening surface low off the Mid-Atlantic coast is expected lift into the Northeast on Friday...spreading heavy and steady rains across much of Maine. As the low quickly shoots north into Canada on Saturday...conditions should clear out over New England. On the opposite side of the Nation...monsoonal moisture and diurnal heating will trigger scattered showers and thunderstorms over portions of the Southwest and the Southern/Central Rockies this weekend. Farther north...a cold front will begin dropping through the Northwestern corner of the country on Saturday. The front will not bring much in terms of precipitation...but temperatures should be noticeably lower behind the boundary. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php