Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 416 PM EDT Mon May 19 2014 Valid 00Z Tue May 20 2014 - 00Z Thu May 22 2014 ...Widespread rain expected from the Upper Midwest to the Ohio Valley and northern Mid-Atlantic region... ...Conditions should cool across California and Nevada... Widespread rain and possible thunderstorms are expected with a surface low lifting through the Upper Midwest on Tuesday and sliding across the Great Lakes on Wednesday. The heaviest amounts should be focused to the north of a warm front surging through the Ohio Valley and northern Mid-Atlantic states as well as ahead of a trailing cold front sweeping eastward from the Upper Midwest to the Great Lakes. Cool and unsettled conditions are expected beneath a closed vortex diving southeastward through California and settling in over the Southwestern U.S.. There will not be a tremendous amount of moisture to work with...but some beneficial rains will still be possible for drought stricken regions of California and Nevada. Rain should begin to clear out over the Northeast Monday night into Tuesday as a surface low spinning off the coast finally pushes out to sea. Farther south...an upper ridge expanding across the south central U.S. should keep locations from the southern/central Plains to the southern Mid-Atlantic states precipitation free for the next few days. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php