Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 246 AM EDT Thu Jul 04 2019 Valid 12Z Thu Jul 04 2019 - 12Z Sat Jul 06 2019 ...Slight to enhanced risk for severe thunderstorms on Thursday across parts of the Central Rockies and Plains, with locally heavy rainfall likely from the Upper Midwest to the High Plains... ...July 4th will be hot and humid in the East, and cooler and dry in the west... A cold front pushing south from the Northern Plains/Upper Mississippi Valley this morning will continue to be a focus for numerous showers and thunderstorms, with the potential for severe weather and heavy to locally excessive rainfall. The best chance for severe thunderstorms should be on Thursday from western Nebraska to central Wyoming where SPC has a slight to enhanced risk. Elsewhere, more widely scattered convection is expected across much of the South to the Ohio Valley/Mid-Atlantic states, with New England and much of the Western U.S. staying dry. Temperatures for the 4th of July will be above normal for many east of the Rockies. Daytime highs in the 90s will be common across the Eastern states with high humidity levels making it feel even hotter. Temperatures across parts of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic should moderate slightly by Friday, while across New England and the Great Lakes, near 90 degree temperatures will continue, even as far north as Maine. The Western U.S. should stay near or below normal as we end the week, with the greatest departures from normal (10 to 20 degrees below average) likely across the Montana to the Northern Plains as cold air filters in behind the cold front. Happy 243rd Birthday, USA! Santorelli Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php