Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 317 PM EDT Tue Mar 31 2015 Valid 00Z Wed Apr 1 2015 - 00Z Fri Apr 3 2015 ***Weather pattern expected to become active over Central U.S.*** ***Turning colder with scattered rain and snow for Pacific Northwest*** ***Warm weather from Texas to the East Coast through mid-week*** A well-developed frontal system currently crossing the western U.S. is expected to emerge over the Great Plains by Wednesday as a shortwave disturbance aloft tracks eastward from the Pacific Northwest to the Upper Midwest. In terms of sensible weather impacts, this will allow warm temperatures to extend northward across most of the Plains before the cold front passes through. At first, moisture will be fairly limited, but there should be enough Gulf of Mexico moisture feeding into the system by Wednesday night to allow for the development of heavy rainfall across parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri. Some severe thunderstorms will also be possible in this region. With an upper level trough becoming established over the Pacific Northwest and the northern Rockies behind the aforementioned shortwave and front, expect cooler conditions with onshore flow producing showers and mountain snow over western Oregon and Washington. Additional snow showers are likely over parts of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming during this period, with some of the higher elevations receiving several inches of snow. Elsewhere across the continental U.S., the surface low that produced the snow over parts of Pennsylvania and New York is expected to be offshore by Wednesday, leaving a ridge of high pressure and clearing skies in its wake. By Thursday, warmer temperatures are expected across many areas of the eastern U.S., with widespread 70+ degree weather from the Mid-Atlantic and southward across the Deep South and Southeast. D. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php