Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 315 AM EDT Sat Mar 23 2019 Valid 12Z Sat Mar 23 2019 - 12Z Mon Mar 25 2019 ...Gusty winds to remain across the Northeast in the wake of a departing coastal storm today... ...Showers and thunderstorms will move east from the Central Plains into the Mid-Mississippi Valley through Sunday where major to historic river flooding continues... ...Unsettled conditions expected out West with light to moderate rain/mountain snow... A strong coastal low which brought heavy snow to portions of New England and heavy rain to the Mid-Atlantic region will continue to pull away from the Northeast today, bringing any lingering showers along with it. However, a remaining tight pressure gradient between the departing low and high pressure situated over the Ohio Valley will aid in gusty winds for much of the northern Mid-Atlantic and Northeast today with wind gusts expected to range between 25 and 35 mph. Therefore, despite a fair degree of sunshine expected, gusty winds combined with below average temperatures from the Upper Ohio Valley into the Northeast will make for a cool start to the first weekend of spring. Temperatures look to warm to near average for Sunday before a strong cold front reaches northern New England by Sunday night which will bring the beginning of a cold surge to much of the eastern U.S. for early next week. A storm system in the southern and central U.S. which was responsible for severe weather in the Texas Panhandle on Friday will move east today and Sunday. While widespread severe storms are not anticipated by the Storm Prediction Center, a few stronger storms cannot be ruled out from portions of the Southern Plains into the Ozarks this weekend. Elsewhere, light to moderate rain will be possible atop sections of the Missouri and Mississippi River Valleys which are experiencing major flooding but with the heaviest rain likely focusing across southern locations from Oklahoma/Texas into the Lower Mississippi Valley. Across the western U.S., a weakening upper level disturbance will move inland today bringing scattered rain and higher elevation snow from California into the Great Basin, reaching the northern and central Rocky Mountains on Sunday. The relatively weak nature of the storm system and a lack of a better moisture feed should limit precipitation totals this weekend. A stronger storm system is expected to bring another round of rain and mountain snow to the West Coast Sunday night into Monday. At this time, the greatest rainfall through Monday morning appears to set up from southwestern Oregon into northern California with heavy snow for the mountainous regions of northern California. Otto Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php