Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 243 AM EST Wed Feb 14 2018 Valid 12Z Wed Feb 14 2018 - 12Z Fri Feb 16 2018 ...A strong cold front will bring substantially colder temperatures in its wake from north to south through the remainder of the work week... ...Flooding rainfall possible from the Ohio valley into portions of southwestern Pennsylvania for the second half of Thursday... ...Beneficial rain/snow for parts of the West... A strong cold front, currently stretching east to west across southern Canada will reach Montana and North Dakota this evening, bringing light snow a shot of much colder temperatures. Today's high temperatures across the north-central U.S. are expected to be near to about 10 degrees above mid-February averages, but on Thursday, highs should fall to 20 to 30 degrees below average for the region. The cold front will continue south and east on Thursday but locations ahead of the boundary will sour into the 60s and 70s for many locations from the southern and central Plains to the Mid-Atlantic Coast. By Friday though, folks from Texas to the middle Mississippi valley will see high temperatures 20 to 40 degrees colder compared to Thursday. The warm air ahead of the cold front will also allow modified moisture from the Gulf of Mexico to flow northward, helping in the production of scattered showers today from the ArkLaTex into the Appalachians. A second round of heavier rainfall is anticipated to develop on Thursday afternoon across portions of the Ohio valley into southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia, some of which could cause flooding given 2-day rainfall totals of 1-3 inches are expected on average through Friday morning. Across the western U.S., a series of upper level disturbances will allow much of the region to remain unsettled through the rest of the week. Temperatures along and west of the Continental Divide will be near to slightly below average, which is a big change from the recent above average warmth seen over the past couple of weeks. These systems are not expected to produce widespread heavy precipitation, but lower elevation rain and mountain snow should help to put a slight dent in widespread drought conditions currently in place over the Southwest and portions of the southern Great Basin. Otto Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php