Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 353 PM EDT Fri Oct 14 2016 Valid 00Z Sat Oct 15 2016 - 00Z Mon Oct 17 2016 ...Heavy rain and high wind expected over the Pacific Northwest and northern California... ...Warmer than average temperatures expected for the central U.S. with cooler temperatures in the East... The West Coast and portions of the Great Basin and Northern Rockies are experiencing widespread precipitation and high winds with the strong storm system that pushed through earlier today. Snow is expected for areas of higher terrain across the West. This same front will continue moving east across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest on Saturday and into the Upper Great Lakes region on Sunday. A secondary cold front will closely trail behind this system from the southern Canadian Prairie east- southeast to the Upper Mississippi valley/Upper Great Lakes. Showers and thunderstorms will develop along and ahead of the front across the central Plains and Upper Midwest states. Another storm system will move onshore on Saturday resulting in another round of intense rain and wind to the Pacific Northwest/northern California - spreading rain, wind, and high elevation snows into the northern Rockies Saturday night into Sunday. With a strong trough in place over the eastern Pacific Ocean, the ridge over the central U.S. will maintain warmer than average temperatures this weekend. Forecast highs will generally be 5 to 15 degrees above those typical for mid-October. Temperatures across the East having been cooler than average of late, but will steady warmer to near normal highs by Sunday. Scattered showers and thunderstorms may develop over the southern Plains this afternoon and evening along a weakening front, but will likely diminish by the overnight hours. Generally dry conditions are forecast from the Mid-Atlantic to the Northeast this weekend. Campbell Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php