Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 343 PM EDT Tue Jul 22 2014 Valid 00Z Wed Jul 23 2014 - 00Z Fri Jul 25 2014 ...Showers and thunderstorms move from the Upper Great Lakes to the Ohio Valley and Northeast... ...Rain and thunderstorms will spread across the Northwest as energy moves onshore... A surface front currently extending from the Upper Midwest to the Central Plains will continue to push east and southward with time, reaching the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic coast and the Tennessee Valley by Wednesday night. Showers and thunderstorms associated with the boundary will spread from the Upper Great Lakes this evening into the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic/Northeast by tomorrow. During the afternoon hours of Wednesday, a few of the storms could be strong to severe, especially in New England where strong lifting and plenty of instability will be present just ahead of the boundary. Out west, an expansive area of upper level energy will move onshore by Wednesday evening. Showers and thunderstorms will continue to spread across the Pacific Northwest, Intermountain West, and Northern Rockies. A few of the thunderstorms could be severe, as forecast by the Storm Prediction Center, especially across portions of the Northern Rockies on Wednesday. By Wednesday afternoon, the rain will begin moving into the Northern High Plains, and is expected to become more widespread across the Dakotas and eastern Nebraska overnight Wednesday and into Thursday. Elsewhere, a weakening boundary and small pieces of upper level energy along the central Gulf Coast keeps the showers and thunderstorms in the forecast. By Wednesday afternoon however, most of the activity should become confined to the southeast and Gulf coasts as the front finally disappears by that time. Across the Southwest, diurnally driven monsoonal moisture into the region keeps afternoon/evening showers and storms in the forecast for the Four Corners region and into the Central Rockies. Monarski Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php