Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 402 PM EDT Tue Oct 23 2018 Valid 00Z Wed Oct 24 2018 - 00Z Fri Oct 26 2018 ...Locally heavy rain and storms are expected for the Southwest, Texas, and into the Lower Mississippi Valley and Southeast... ...Snow is forecast for northern New England... ...The Northwest U.S. is expecting a couple rounds of wet weather... An upper-level trough over the Four Corners region plus sufficient moisture will lead to rain showers and scattered thunderstorms in the Southwest, Southern Rockies, and into Texas through Tuesday. The trough moving eastward will bring rain to much of Texas on Tuesday night and Wednesday. Additionally, a surface low and a stationary front is present along the Gulf Coast. By Wednesday night into Thursday, the remnant energy from what is currently Hurricane Willa will combine with these features to help strengthen the surface low along the western Gulf Coast, and the low will begin moving eastward along the central Gulf Coast. This will shift the heavy rain eastward to the Lower Mississippi Valley and Southeast on Thursday. Marginal Risks of flash flooding are in place for these areas. Much below normal temperatures will persist in Texas with all this active weather. A surface low is forecast to continue strengthening over the next couple of days as it moves through the Lower Great Lakes region and the Northeast, lingering offshore near the New England coast on Wednesday. Rain showers are expected for the New England coast, but snow is likely in the interior of New England. Though warm temperatures will be a limiting factor and uncertainty exists regarding where the most snow will fall, parts of Maine are expected to receive 6 to 8 inches of snow before the low pulls away Wednesday night. Snow showers could linger into Thursday morning downwind of the Lower Great Lakes. One rainfall chance in the Pacific Northwest will wrap up Tuesday evening as a cold front continues moving onshore and eastward. Rain and snow showers are possible in the Northern Rockies through Tuesday night. A strong low pressure system will move toward British Columbia on Wednesday, and its associated fronts will move into the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday night and Thursday. This plus strong onshore flow will increase rain chances once again for the Pacific Northwest and into the Northern Rockies on Thursday. Light snow is possible in higher elevations. Elsewhere, rain showers are expected for the Northern and Central Plains and into the Upper Midwest ahead of a surface low pressure system. A cold high pressure system at the surface will lead to continued below normal temperatures in the eastern U.S. The western U.S., on the other hand, will see temperatures that are above normal through the next few days. Tate Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php