Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 326 PM EDT Wed Oct 09 2019 Valid 00Z Thu Oct 10 2019 - 00Z Sat Oct 12 2019 ...Significant October storm to bring heavy snow and strong winds across parts of the Northern Rockies and Northern Plains... ...Record low temperatures possible across the western and central U.S. Thursday and Friday... ...Extreme to critical fire weather across portions of California and the Intermountain West... ...A coastal storm off the Eastern Seaboard could bring heavy rain and gusty winds to portions of the Northeast... A vigorous upper-level trough and strong associated cold front continue to move across the western U.S. today, crossing the Great Basin and northern/central Rockies tonight. Snow is expected to continue tonight across portions of the Northern Rockies and Northern High Plains (where precipitation may initially begin as rain) as colder air works into those regions behind the frontal boundary. By Thursday night into Friday morning, a more significant area of low pressure is forecast to develop along the front across the Upper Midwest, with snow continuing to fall west of the low across the Northern Plains. Through Friday night, the system is expected to produce widespread snowfall amounts greater than six inches across the Northern Plains, with the historic amounts in excess of 1 to 2 feet possible across North Dakota. Strong and gusty winds may also accompany the snow, resulting in difficult travel conditions at times. Farther south and west, windy conditions associated with the frontal passage are forecast to lead to extreme and critical fire weather conditions from portions of California and the Great Basin east to the central Rockies. Additionally, in the cold air mass north of the frontal boundary, record low temperatures are possible from the Northwest to the northern Great Basin Thursday morning, east into the Rockies and central/southern Plains by Friday morning. As the cold front pushes southeastward across the Southern Plains, heavy rain and severe thunderstorms will be possible as well. WPC has issued a Slight Risk of excessive rainfall on Thursday across eastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri. The Storm Prediction Center has placed a Slight Risk for severe thunderstorms over roughly the same area. An area of low pressure is forecast to gradually deepen off the Eastern Seaboard through Thu/Thu night, moving very little by Friday as an upper-level low develops over top of the system. The coastal storm is expected to produce heavy rainfall and gusty winds across portions of southern New England over the next couple of days. 1 to 5 inches of rain are possible through Friday night, with the heaviest amounts expected to fall across eastern Massachusetts and nearby islands, where amounts in excess of 5 inches are possible. Farther south, scattered to numerous (locally heavy) showers and thunderstorms are forecast ahead of the front across the Florida Peninsula. Snell/Ryan Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php