Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 415 PM EDT Wed Oct 23 2019 Valid 00Z Thu Oct 24 2019 - 00Z Sat Oct 26 2019 ...Heavy snow expected for portions of central to southern Colorado through Thursday morning... ...Conditions favorable for the spreading of wildfires across northern and southern California... A potent storm system will impact the Colorado Rockies into the southern Plains over the next couple of days. As a cold front continues to drop south through the Rockies and southern Plains, upslope flow along the High Plains will combine with colder temperatures filtering in to promote snow development from central Colorado tonight into the Texas Panhandle on Thursday. Generally, 4-8 inches could fall into the Front Range with higher totals into the Foothills, some in excess of a foot. High temperatures will fall 20-30 degrees colder on Thursday across the southern to central High Plains in the wake of the cold front compared to Wednesday's highs. A narrow band of heavy snow will be possible across the Texas Panhandle Thursday afternoon and evening which will be disruptive to travel in the area. Snowfall accumulations of 1-3 inches are expected into the Texas Panhandle, with locally higher values possible on a localized basis. Heavy rain will also fall within the warm sector of the developing storm system late tonight into Thursday from the eastern half of Texas into eastern Oklahoma. Meanwhile, low relative humidities and gusty winds will favor dangerous conditions favorable for the spreading of wildfires across sections of northern California and southern California as a strong ridge of high pressure settles into the western U.S. Winds are expected to pick up tonight and stay strong into the day on Thursday with gusts in the 50 to 60 mph range. Temperatures will be in the upper 80s to low 90s with little moisture in the air across north-central California and southern California. Across the eastern U.S., high pressure will dominate the region into Friday keeping daytime temperatures near average but cool morning lows with periods of frost likely across portions of the Mid-Atlantic region Thursday morning, perhaps Friday morning as well. While there may be a few light showers in the Northeast Thursday night and Friday along with rain near a returning warm front along the Gulf Coast, many locations east of the Mississippi River will stay rain free through Friday morning with chances for precipitation increasing from the south during the day on Friday ahead of the storm system in the southern Plains. Otto Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php