Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 329 PM EDT Fri Apr 21 2017 Valid 00Z Sat Apr 22 2017 - 00Z Mon Apr 24 2017 ...Heavy rain and strong storms expected from the central Plains to the East Coast through the weekend... A broad frontal boundary currently stretched from western Texas to the Northeast U.S. will be the main feature of interest over the upcoming weekend, along with a surface low that will track eastward along the boundary. Numerous showers and storms are expected to develop in the vicinity of this front and produce episodes of heavy rain and severe weather. The heaviest rainfall will likely occur over the southern Appalachians and adjacent foothills, where 2 to 4 inches of rain will be possible this weekend. The Interstate 70 corridor from central Illinois to the Mason-Dixon line will delineate the northern extent of the rain. Elsewhere across the nation, an arctic front will settle southward across the northern Plains and Upper Midwest with much colder temperatures arriving behind it. Over the West Coast, a Pacific cold front is forecast to move inland by Saturday afternoon and then reach the Intermountain West by Sunday. This will bring scattered showers and mountain snow back to the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php