Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 419 AM EDT Wed May 06 2020 Valid 12Z Wed May 06 2020 - 12Z Fri May 08 2020 ...Rain associated with a low pressure system over the Mid-Atlantic today will slowly move off the coast on Thursday... ...Another low pressure system will bring the next round of widespread rain and thunderstorms across central Plains towards the East Coast Thursday into Friday. ...Excessive heat will become confined to the Desert Southwest as much of the eastern two-thirds of the country remains abnormally cool... A low pressure system will keep a good chance of rain today from the central Appalachians into the Mid-Atlantic. As the low deepens and slides off the East Coast, the rain will skirt southeastern new England tonight into Thursday morning. Meanwhile, a swath of moderately heavy precipitation associated with a Pacific cold front is moving across the Northwest. The precipitation will quickly move across the northern Rockies into the northern High Plains tonight as a low pressure center begins to form along the front. Some high-elevation wet snow is possible early on Thursday. As the system pushes into the Plains, the stage will be set for yet another episode of widespread rain and thunderstorms that will expand quickly across the central Plains towards the East Coast on Thursday and into Friday. It appears that the central Plains will see the highest chance of heavy rain on Thursday. By Friday morning, showers and thunderstorms are forecast to move across the Deep South and become a steady rain over the Ohio Valley. Meanwhile, wintry mixed precipiation can be expected across the Great Lakes and parts of the Northeast. Elsewhere, above average temperatures will become more confined across the Desert Southwest as the Pacific cold front brings down cooler air from the north. The heat will then spill into the southern High Plains on Thursday. High temperatures across these regions are expected to be 10 to 15 degrees above average. In contrast, much below average temperatures will persist across the eastern two-thirds of the country for the next couple of days. In the meantime, an unusual weather pattern over eastern Canada will poise to push an even colder air mass into the Great Lakes by Friday morning! Kong Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php