Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 152 PM EST Thu Feb 22 2018 Valid 00Z Fri Feb 23 2018 - 00Z Sun Feb 25 2018 ...Active weather pattern continues with heavy rain across the Plains and Ohio Valley and snow for parts of the Midwest... The main weather story making weather headlines for the end of the week will be the continued heavy rainfall and strong thunderstorms from Texas to the Ohio Valley. This is in association with a nearly stationary front that is intercepting copious amounts of deep moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and leading to multiple rounds of heavy rain over already saturated soils from eastern Texas to the Ohio Valley. A moderate risk of excessive rainfall continues for many of these areas through Saturday with the potential for several inches of rain by Saturday morning. Flash flood watches are also in effect. Much of the West will remain in a cold and unsettled pattern through the end of the week courtesy of multiple shortwaves dropping south and reinforcing the broad upper level trough of low pressure. Snow will spread across the Great Basin and to the Rockies. Snow will be heavy at times across the higher terrain in Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, and the Colorado Rockies. The cold airmass in place over the region will keep afternoon highs generally 10 to 20 degrees cooler than average for late February. The opposite will be the case for the Deep South and extending eastward to the Carolinas and Florida, with widespread highs in the mid 70s to mid 80s with additional record highs expected. D. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php