Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 331 AM EDT Fri Apr 26 2019 Valid 12Z Fri Apr 26 2019 - 12Z Sun Apr 28 2019 ...Strong storm system to affect the eastern U.S. on Friday and another one develops across the Central U.S. this weekend... An intensifying area of low pressure over the lower Great Lakes Friday morning with a trailing cold front across the Appalachians will produce widespread showers and thunderstorms for the East Coast states to close out the week. The heaviest rainfall is expected across New England on Friday with 1 to 2 inches possible, and approaching an inch for the Mid-Atlantic region. Some severe storms are possible for locations between Philadelphia and Charleston, SC on Friday before the cold front passes through the region. With the exception of some lingering showers across the Northeast, a drier weather pattern is expected for the weekend from the Mid-Atlantic to Florida. A shortwave impulse tracking across the western U.S. will sustain a new surface low across the central Plains by Friday night and into Saturday. The majority of the precipitation with this event is expected north of the surface low track from South Dakota to the greater Chicago area. Late season accumulating snow is possible on the northern edge of the precipitation with the potential for a few inches of snow. In the warm sector of this low, scattered showers and storms are likely across parts of Oklahoma and northern Texas. Towards Saturday night and Sunday, a second storm system organizes over the Rockies and western High Plains in response to a closed upper level low. This will likely result in heavy mountain snow across western Montana and gusty winds for the Intermountain West behind the cold front. D. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php