Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 437 PM EDT Thu Jun 18 2020 Valid 00Z Fri Jun 19 2020 - 00Z Sun Jun 21 2020 ...Relatively cool and showery weather continues across the Mid-Atlantic, Carolinas, and into the Ohio Valley for a couple more days... ...Hotter than normal conditions from the Plains to New England; strong thunderstorms from the central Plains to upper Midwest... ...Mainly dry on the West Coast with heat building in; fire weather threat eases across the Southwest... A slow-moving upper-level low that has brought cool and wet weather across the Mid-Atlantic into the central Appalachians will continue to gradually weaken. Showers and a few thunderstorms associated with this system will gradually become more widely scattered with time. In fact, some breaks in the overcast skies can be expected during the afternoon, allowing for periods of party sunny skies. However, the strong June sunshine will tend to trigger new rounds of scattered showers from late afternoon into the evening hours for some areas along the East Coast into the Ohio Valley through Saturday. As the upper low weakens, temperatures will gradually warm to the point where highs in the 80s return by the weekend. In contrast, full sunshine will raise afternoon temperatures well into the 90s across northern New England, where record high temperatures are possible for the next couple of days at a few locations. Farther south, upward motion aloft over Florida and an influx of tropical moisture make for a stormy couple of days, especially over central and southern Florida. Rainfall totals in excess of two inches could occur within strong thunderstorms. Meanwhile, summer heat continues from the southern Plains across the Midwest and into the Great Lakes. High temps in these regions are forecast to range between the upper 80s and low 90s. Daily episodes of severe storms are possible today from the Midwest stretching south to the southern Plains as a cold front approaches from the northern Plains. The severe threat diminishes in the Midwest on Friday but severe storms are expected to fire again in the southern High Plains on Friday. Behind the cold front, very cool temperatures over the Intermountain West will filter into the northern and central High Plains. The core of the cool air will spread from the northern and central Rockies into the central High Plains by Friday. Much of the West Coast should remain rain-free into the start of the weekend with above normal temperatures spreading from the the Pacific Northwest on south to the San Joaquin Valley, reaching the Great Basin on Saturday. In the Southwest, some good news as fire weather conditions, for the first time in many days, do not feature extensive areas of elevated or critical fire areas. T here is, however, one area of elevated fire weather conditions still present in southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico. Kong/Mullinax Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php