Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 447 PM EDT Wed Apr 23 2014 Valid 00Z Thu Apr 24 2014 - 00Z Sat Apr 26 2014 ...Severe weather will threaten portions of the Nation's midsection... ...Weather will remain unsettled over the northwestern U.S.... A cold front pushing east of the Rockies will help ignite showers and thunderstorms while the boundary crosses the Nation's midsection Wednesday night into Thursday. An abundance of moisture funneling northward out of the Gulf of Mexico will fuel moderate to heavy rains within developing storms...and ample instability will allow for storms to become strong or even severe. The greatest chance for severe weather Wednesday night will be across the Central to Southern Plains...and then the threat should shift east into Lower Mississippi Valley on Thursday. Shower and thunderstorm activity should spread into the eastern third of the Country Friday morning as the front crosses the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys...but the severe weather threat should diminish. Also...Gulf moisture surging far enough north should help develop rains with embedded thunderstorms ahead of the northern portion of the boundary arching out over the Dakotas...Upper Mississippi Valley...and Great Lakes. Snow will be possible within the northern fringe of the precipitation shield...which could lead to some late season accumulations across northern Minnesota...Wisconsin...and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Just as weather quiets down out West...another Pacific front moving inland will keep conditions unsettled through the end of the work week. Widespread shower activity will expand across the region as the front pushes through the Pacific Northwest on Thursday and then drops into the Northern Rockies...Great Basin...and central California on Friday. The combination of onshore flow from the Pacific and orographic effects will allow for some hefty totals along the upslope side of the terrain...especially across the coastal ranges of Washington and Oregon...the Cascades...and the Sierra Nevada. In addition...below normal temperatures across the area will make snow the dominant precipitation type in the higher elevations. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php