Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 319 AM EDT Wed Aug 6 2014 Valid 12Z Wed Aug 6 2014 - 12Z Fri Aug 8 2014 ***Scattered showers and storms for the Inter-Mountain West*** ***Stormy weather for the Central Plains and Midwest*** ***Quality airmass settles into the Northeast U.S.*** For the western U.S., an upper-level trough over the Great Basin with monsoonal moisture in place is enhancing shower and thunderstorm activity over this region. As this trough drifts east through Thursday, several areas of organized rainfall are likely over the Great Basin to the central Rockies. It will be drier across the Desert Southwest for the end of the week as most of the rainfall will be suppressed to the south in Mexico. For the central Plains and Midwest, a stationary front and a wave of low pressure along it will help fuel the development of multiple thunderstorm complexes. The persistence of the front in the same general area may lead to periods of heavy rainfall with these storms. Warm and humid flow to the south will over-run cooler air to the north of the boundary. Tropical Storm Bertha is still expected to remain well offshore from the East Coast and weaken. For the end of the work week, a cold front is expected to clear the East Coast north of South Carolina and bring a return to cooler and drier conditions. Along and ahead of the front, scattered showers and storms are expected Wednesday evening for parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php