Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 347 AM EDT Wed Aug 05 2015 Valid 12Z Wed Aug 05 2015 - 12Z Fri Aug 07 2015 ...Severe storms and flash flood potential for the Plains to the middle Mississippi River Valley... ...Triple digit temperatures for the southern Plains... Most of the focus for precipitation in the heartland of the US will be provided by a front that is draped across the Plains and Mississippi Valley. This quasi-stationary front is currently connected to an impressive cold front pushing off the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Coast which brings lower dew points and slightly cooler temperatures than the past few days. As this stationary front continues to stay in place, warm, southerly winds will transport moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and gives way to very warm temperatures and humid conditions. Consequently, on Wednesday, showers and thunderstorms will develop in the central and southern Plains and propagate eastward into the middle Mississippi Valley. On Thursday morning, most of the heavier precipitation will continue to fall across the middle Mississippi Valley and Tennessee Valley. However, by Thursday evening, showers and thunderstorms will spread across the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley. There is potential for flash flooding and strong to severe storms over the next few days with this convective activity. Consult SPC convective outlooks and WPC excessive rainfall for more information. To the north, the axis of heavier rain will move from the Intermountain West into the northern Plains in response to a separate frontal boundary moving eastward. Showers and thunderstorms will linger through the short term period across Montana and the Dakotas as multiple upper level disturbances cross the region. In response to the warm Gulf moisture and upper level ridging, the southern Plains and parts of the Southeast will be quite warm over the next few days. Areas especially across the southern Plains will have temperatures tipping over the century mark. Heat indices will be well into the 100s and reaching to 110 degrees through the end of the week. With most of the rainfall to the north, there will not be much relief from the heat heading into the weekend. Fanning Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php