Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 417 AM EDT Fri Oct 18 2013 Valid 12Z Fri Oct 18 2013 - 12Z Sun Oct 20 2013 ***Ridging in the West and trough in the East*** ***Heaviest rainfall near the Central Gulf Coast*** With an increasingly amplified upper air pattern over the continental United States, a large scale ridge is expected over the Inter-Mountain West, and a developing trough over the Eastern U.S. This will generally equate to warmer weather west of the Rocky Mountains, and cooler weather for the Plains and into the Ohio Valley. There will be multiple cold fronts that will reinforce the cool weather. Across the Deep South and into southern Texas, a nearly stationary front will remain near the central and western Gulf Coast into the weekend, separating the pleasant fall-like weather from the muggy conditions south of the front. With low level flow returning from the south, ahead of the upper wave impacting the central Plains, heavy rain is expected to develop just north of the front along the Central Gulf Coast. This is likely to happen from Friday night into Saturday morning where rainfall amounts up to two inches are expected from southeast Texas and into the Deep South. By Saturday morning, the front should drop back south into the Gulf of Mexico as a cold front, ending the rain from northwest to southeast and bringing much more pleasant conditions. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php