Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 218 PM EST Wed Nov 6 2019 Valid 00Z Thu Nov 7 2019 - 00Z Sat Nov 9 2019 ...Below normal temperatures for much of the nation and snow for the Great Lakes and Northeast... The general upper level pattern over the continental U.S. through the end of the week will be featured with an upper level ridge situated over the West Coast and a broad upper level trough east of the Rockies. This will support the passage of a strong cold front that will reach the Gulf Coast and East Coast Thursday night, with anomalously cold temperatures for early November behind the front across the Plains and extending to the Northeast states. Readings could be 20 to perhaps 30 degrees below normal for some areas, which may be enough to set some record low temperatures. A broad swath of moderate to locally heavy rainfall is likely from northern Texas to southern Missouri through early Friday ahead of the approaching cold front, since the boundary will be intercepting enhanced moisture from the western Gulf of Mexico. The rain is expected to be lighter farther to the northeast across the southern Ohio Valley and the Northeast, with rain changing to snow across interior portions of New York and New England before ending Thursday night. Several inches of snow accumulation is likely across the higher elevations. Elsewhere across the continental U.S., dry conditions are forecast across most of the western U.S. and extending eastward to the Upper Midwest. Lake effect snow showers are anticipated across much of Michigan by the end of the week as the Canadian airmass advects much colder air over the warmer waters of the Great Lakes. Air quality will continue to remain an issue across interior portions of the Pacific Northwest and the northern Rockies through Wednesday, followed by improving conditions on Thursday as improved atmospheric mixing takes place. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php