Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 402 AM EDT Sun Sep 29 2013 Valid 12Z Sun Sep 29 2013 - 12Z Tue Oct 01 2013 ...Soaking rains and gusty winds will continue across the Pacific Northwest into Monday... ...Showers and thunderstorms along a cold front edging towards the eastern half of the Nation should begin to fizzle out as the boundary weakens on Sunday... The wet pattern will continue over the northwestern corner of the Country for the remainder of the weekend and into Monday. A series of cold fronts moving inland over the Pacific Northwest will help ignite widespread showers across the region...and persistent onshore flow dragging anomalous Pacific moisture inland should fuel moderate to heavy rains within developing showers. The heftiest totals are expected along the windward side of the coastal ranges and Cascades...but enough moisture should spill inland to produce heavy rains across the Northern Continental Divide. In addition to the soaking rains...strong and gusty winds will accompany the cold fronts...and decreasing temperatures behind the fronts should eventually change rain over to snow in the highest elevations of the Washington Cascades and Northern Rockies. Showers and thunderstorms will continue to light up along a cold front pressing east through the Great Lakes...Mississippi Valley...and Southern Plains on Sunday...but as the upper level support for the front lifts farther northeast into Canada and inflow from the Gulf of Mexico weakens with time...precipitation will become increasingly sparse along the dissipating boundary. Strong surface ridging and cold air advection around the western side of an ocean cyclone should keep much of the Eastern Seaboard rain-free during the short range period. However...low-level northeasterly flow off the Atlantic could bring showers and thunderstorms inland across Florida and the Carolina coast. Also...some light showers could clip the New England coast on Monday as the deepening ocean cyclone lifts northward out in the Atlantic. Gerhardt/Roth Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php