Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 400 PM EDT Fri Apr 22 2016 Valid 00Z Sat Apr 23 2016 - 00Z Mon Apr 25 2016 ...Unsettled weather moving across the western U.S. and into the northern Plains through the weekend... ...Showers and thunderstorms will move off the East Coast tonight...mainly fine weather for the weekend... A front has made its way across the country and has been spreading showers and thunderstorms into the eastern U.S. this Friday afternoon. The precipitation is expected to move steadily to the east and off the mid-Atlantic coast tonight. The last place to clear out should be in North Carolina where the rain could last until early Saturday afternoon. A ridge of high pressure will build in from the Ohio Valley, bringing mostly fine conditions from the eastern U.S. down to the Deep South for the rest of the weekend. Out West, rain and isolated thunderstorms ahead of a Pacific low pressure system are already spreading into northern California this Friday afternoon. With decent upper-level dynamics, this system is forecast to move through the western U.S. during the weekend with lower-elevation rain and mountain snow from the Sierra Nevada northeastward across the Great Basin into much of the northern Rockies. As a surface low pressure system develops in the lee of the Rockies on Saturday, the chance of thunderstorms will increase Saturday afternoon into the evening from the central and northern Rockies eastward into the central Plains, and continues into the Midwest on Sunday. Meanwhile, colder air from Canada will filter into the northern flank of the low pressure system where some wintry precipitation could mix in over the upper Great Lakes and parts of Montana on Sunday. Over the Pacific Northwest, a continuous stream of moisture from the ocean will keep the weather unsettled through the weekend with rainy conditions near the coast and snow along the Cascades. Kong Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php