Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 313 PM EDT Tue May 02 2017 Valid 00Z Wed May 03 2017 - 00Z Fri May 05 2017 ...Another round of heavy rain expected from the southern and central plains to the Mississippi and Ohio valleys... ...Warming temperatures expected for much of the western U.S... A surface low moving across the Southern Plains will draw deep moisture northward from the Gulf of Mexico to generate heavy rainfall across a large portion of the central U.S. Showers and thunderstorms will initially break out Wednesday morning along a stalled frontal boundary stretching from east to west across the Southern Plains. This precipitation will shift eastward and intensify as the surface low matures and slides into the mid Mississippi Valley. This should lead to a band of heavy rainfall from eastern Kansas to northwest Ohio, with a maximum across central Missouri and central Illinois. This could lead to widespread flooding issues as much of the region has already seen several inches of rainfall over the past week. See the excessive rainfall outlook for more details. More intense thunderstorm activity is expected to fire up across the lower Mississippi Valley Wednesday afternoon ahead of a cold front sweeping through Texas. Some thunderstorms could become severe. See the Storm Prediction Center Website for more details. As the storm matures and moves eastward showers and thunderstorms will march into the Southeast ahead of a well defined cold front. While the thunderstorms should be progressive, there could be some locally heavy rainfall that could cause some flooding concerns across the lower Mississippi Valley. Precipitation and cloud cover will result in a cooling trend across much of the central and eastern U.S. with below normal temperatures widespread. A deep storm system in the Gulf of Alaska will drive warm pacific air across the Western U.S. This will lead to a pronounced warming trend, with temperatures reaching as high as 20 degrees above normal across parts of the Pacific Northwest by Thursday. Krekeler Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php