Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 414 PM EDT Wed Aug 19 2015 Valid 00Z Thu Aug 20 2015 - 00Z Sat Aug 22 2015 ***Slow moving cold front with rain for eastern U.S.*** ***Pleasantly cool from the northern Plains to the Ohio Valley*** ***Continued hot and dry for the Desert Southwest*** The main feature of interest across the nation is the strong low pressure system tracking across the northern Great Lakes and its trailing cold front. This surface low is stronger than most low pressure systems for this time of year, and it is expected to have widespread weather impacts from the Great Lakes to the Deep South. Strong to severe thunderstorms are expected across parts of Michigan and extending southward to the lower Mississippi Valley for Wednesday night ahead of this front. A broken band of showers and storms is expected from the central Gulf Coast to the Northeast U.S. on Thursday as deep moisture from the Gulf of Mexico gets drawn northward. Heavy rainfall is likely for some areas as well. Behind the front, cooler and drier weather will arrive and lower the humidity west of the Appalachians on Thursday and then east of the mountains on Friday. For the western U.S., warm and dry weather is forecast to continue through Thursday as high pressure remains over that region. By the end of the week, a developing storm system over Montana will bring showers and storms back into the forecast for the northern Rockies, along with cooler temperatures near the Canadian border. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php