Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 356 AM EDT Tue Jun 03 2014 Valid 12Z Tue Jun 03 2014 - 12Z Thu Jun 05 2014 ...Widespread flash flooding and severe weather event expected for locations from the Central Plains to the Ohio Valley... Vigorous energy lifting out of the Southwest and over an expansive upper ridge will set the stage for a widespread flash flooding and severe weather event for portions of the Nation's midsection. As the energy ejects east of the Rockies on Tuesday...an organized area of rain and thunderstorms are expected to breakout to the north of a frontal boundary stretched through the Central Plains. Developing storms will be moving into a very ripe airmass...giving them the potential to contain heavy downpours...damaging winds...large hail...and even tornadoes. The threat for flash flooding and severe weather will shift eastward as the energy aloft and resulting surface low quickly track through the Middle Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley Tuesday night into Wednesday. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected beneath an upper trough progressing eastward out of the Northwest on Wednesday. Some localized areas of moderate to heavy rains will be possible...especially once the trough moves over a relatively moist airmass in place across the Northern Plains. Numerous showers and thunderstorms will continue to fire up ahead of a cold front pushing through the Northeast and northern Mid-Atlantic states Tuesday into Wednesday. Sufficient moisture feeding into the convection should allow for some moderate to heavy rains...but the fairly progressive nature of this system should limit any threat for flash flooding. Farther south...scattered shower activity should begin to diminish over the Central Gulf Coast states as an upper ridge builds in aloft. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php