Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 421 PM EDT Thu May 07 2020 Valid 00Z Fri May 08 2020 - 00Z Sun May 10 2020 ...A system bringing late-season snows for the interior Northeast Friday and into Saturday brings abnormally cold air into much of the eastern U.S. on Saturday... ...There is a slight risk of severe thunderstorms and excessive rainfall over parts of the Southern Plains... ...Near record heat continues across the Desert Southwest into California... A system over the Southern Plains will shift northeastward along front moving across the Plains and Midwest. To the south of the associated low pressure area, fire danger will be very high over much of the Southern Rockies and Southern High Plains into this evening. Well ahead of the front, lowering humidity and gusty winds will also help elevate the risk of wildfires over parts of Florida into this evening. The wave of low pressure will move over the Middle Mississippi Valley by Friday morning and then northeastward to the Mid-Atlantic by Friday evening and into the Gulf of Maine by Saturday morning. The storm will produce showers and thunderstorms over parts of the Southern Plains on Thursday evening into Friday morning. The SPC has slight risk of severe thunderstorms over parts of the Southern Plains, likewise, through Friday morning. The main hazards with the severe storms will be severe hail and damaging thunderstorm wind gust. In a similar fashion, the WPC has issued a slight risk of excessive rainfall over parts of the Southern Plains. The major threat from excessive rainfall will be mainly localized scattered flash flooding. In addition, the wave of low pressure will aid in pulling much colder than average air over the Northeast. On Friday afternoon, light snow will start to develop over parts of the Great Lakes and expand into the Ohio Valley by Friday evening. Overnight Friday, the snow will expand into parts of the Central Appalachians and into parts of the Northeast. By Saturday evening the snow will move into parts of Northern New England. It appears that interior New England will see significant amount of wet snow with northerly wind becoming increasingly strong and gusty late Friday night into Saturday morning. The unusually cold air mass from eastern Canada will be pulled southward down into the eastern U.S. behind the storm, resulting in widespread record low temperatures spanning as far south as Alabama and Mississippi on Saturday. In stark contrast to what's evolving across the East, near record heat is expected across southern California, the Desert Southwest, and the Southern Rockies. Meanwhile, the Pacific Northwest will catch a break in precipitation as a gradual warming trend sets in. Lastly, an Alberta clipper is forecast to spread rain and mixed wintry precipitation into the northern Plains and parts of the Northern Rockies Friday into Saturday morning. Ziegenfelder Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php