Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 402 PM EDT Wed Aug 29 2018 Valid 00Z Thu Aug 30 2018 - 00Z Sat Sep 01 2018 ...Severe weather possible across the New England interior... ...Heavy rain and severe weather possible for the Mississippi Valley... ...Heat wave to continue across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast... ...Fire weather concerns begin to resurface across the western U.S.... A strong cold front is pressing south and east, stretching from New England to the southern Plains. Showers and thunderstorms have fired along this boundary and will continue moving eastward with the front through tonight. Some of these thunderstorms could produce locally heavy rainfall--thus a marginal risk of flash flooding is possible from the interior of New England to parts of the southern and central Plains. Additionally, a slight risk of severe thunderstorms has been highlighted by the Storm Prediction Center from northern New York to northern New England. As this boundary slows and stalls across the Mid-Atlantic and into the middle Mississippi Valley on Thursday, more rounds of showers and thunderstorms are expected. As the warm front lifts northward across the middle and upper Mississippi Valley, thunderstorms capable of producing heavy rainfall can be expected on Thursday night and into Friday morning. There is also a marginal risk of severe thunderstorms from southwest Minnesota/northwest Iowa and the extreme western portions of South Dakota and northeast Nebraska on Thursday. By Friday, the cluster of storms continue impacting the middle Mississippi Valley. As the surface low lifts northward into the Upper Midwest, another area of heavy rainfall can be expected near its vicinity. There is a slight risk of severe thunderstorms for the same region as Thursday. With the upper ridge being the dominant feature across the Southeast, temperatures across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic will still be well above normal through Thursday. Heat advisories and excessive heat warnings are in place through this evening. By Friday, once the cold front pushes across these regions and stalls to the south, temperatures will drop significantly. Meanwhile, precipitation will linger across the area into the weekend. This will bring high temperatures down--and end the heat advisories. Elsewhere across the U.S., fire weather concerns will be possible across the Pacific Northwest, Intermountain West and Great Basin through Friday. Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches are in place across much of Wyoming, northwest Colorado and a small portion of Utah through Thursday due to low relative humidities and gusty winds. Southwest Oregon is also still under an Air Quality Alert due to smoke from a nearby wildfire. Reinhart Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php