Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 441 AM EDT Wed Oct 30 2013 Valid 12Z Wed Oct 30 2013 - 12Z Fri Nov 01 2013 ...Storms with the potential for flash flooding and severe weather expected to break out across the Nation's Midsection... Weather will become increasingly active over the Nation's midsection the next few days as a closed upper vortex opens up and edges east out of the Western U.S.. Strong southerly flow ahead of this system will draw copious amounts of moisture out of the Western Gulf and into the Central U.S.. The anomalous moisture...combined with a cold front emerging out of the Rockies...should ignite and fuel organized bands of heavy rains and thunderstorms from the Southern Plains into the Middle Mississippi Valley on Wednesday. Severe weather will certainly be a threat with these storms...and the slow progression of the cold front will make flash flooding an additional hazard. The front will be a bit more progressive as it presses eastward through the Great Lakes...Ohio Valley...and Lower Mississippi Valley on Thursday...but heavy rains and strong to severe storms will still be a possibility. Late in the forecast period...a surface low rapidly deepening along the front could bring strong and gusty winds to the Great Lakes region as it lifts from the Upper Mississippi Valley into Canada. Out West...scattered snow showers are expected for the higher elevations of Colorado and Wyoming on Wednesday...but activity should gradually diminish as the deep vortex shifts out of the Rockies. Surface ridging building in behind this system will keep weather quiet across much of the Western U.S. for the remainder of the forecast period. However...a weakening Pacific system should bring light shower activity to the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies as it moves onshore. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php