Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 319 AM EDT Sat Oct 19 2013 Valid 12Z Sat Oct 19 2013 - 12Z Mon Oct 21 2013 ***Ridging in the West and trough in the East*** ***Much cooler weather arriving for the Eastern U.S.*** ***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. The coldest weather of the fall season will be arriving from the Great Lakes to the Mid-Atlantic by the end of the weekend. Snow is likely for parts of northern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota on Saturday night and into Sunday morning as a surface low develops over the Upper Midwest. 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. Moderate to occasionally heavy rain is expected to develop just north of the front along the Central Gulf Coast before a secondary cold front brings in a cooler and drier airmass. This is likely to happen on Saturday morning where rainfall amounts up to two inches are expected from southern Louisiana and into the Florida Panhandle. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php