Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 312 PM EDT Sun Oct 19 2014 Valid 00Z Mon Oct 20 2014 - 00Z Wed Oct 22 2014 ***Onshore flow should bring rains to the Pacific Northwest*** A Pacific cold front moving across the Intermountain West over the next couple of days will cause a round of moderate to heavy rain to parts of the West Coast from northern California northward through the Pacific Northwest, eventually edging into the northern Continental Divide. Most of the rain should fall over higher terrain, and given the warm nature of this system, any snow would be confined to higher mountain peaks. Ahead of the slow-moving cold front, above normal temperatures are expected across much of the Rockies and Great Basin. Parts of Texas and the southern Rockies should see scattered showers and thunderstorms primarily during the afternoon and evening hours into Tuesday as a packet of energy and coolness aloft moving along the United States/Mexico border combined with daytime heating destabilizes the atmosphere and lures moisture in from the Gulf of Mexico. An upper level disturbance is expected to drop through the Great Lakes into the Northeast, causing a coastal low to develop/consolidate on Tuesday. Precipitation over the next couple days in this region should remain relatively light due to a dearth of inflow from the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent Atlantic. Within the cool cyclonic flow in the across the region, below normal temperatures are expected over the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, and Northeast. Roth Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php