Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 348 AM EST Fri Dec 12 2014 Valid 12Z Fri Dec 12 2014 - 12Z Sun Dec 14 2014 ...Heavy rains will continue to soak drought-stricken California... Widespread precipitation is expected from the West Coast to the Rockies late this week...as an upper trough and associated cold front edge inland over the Western U.S.. A rich plume of moisture feeding into drought-stricken California will fuel heavy rains on Friday. The thirst-quenching downpours will pose a risk of flash flooding...especially over the upslope side of the terrain; However...accumulating snows along the Sierra Nevada range should help with drought relief. On Saturday...precipitation will shift eastward into the Intermountain West and Rockies as the front presses farther inland. Elsewhere across the Nation...a closed low spinning over the Northeast will keep conditions cool and unsettled from Pennsylvania to Maine on Friday and even into Saturday. Light rains should continue to develop to the north of a frontal boundary stretched across North Texas and the Lower Mississippi Valley. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php