Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 403 PM EDT Thu Jun 25 2020 Valid 00Z Fri Jun 26 2020 - 00Z Sun Jun 28 2020 ...The threat of strong to severe thunderstorms will spread across the northern Plains this evening, reaching the Northeast on Saturday... ...Saharan dust to arrive over the Gulf Coast states... ...Very hot conditions persist across parts of Florida and interior valleys of California... The upper-level disturbance over southeast Texas responsible for recent heavy rainfall across the Gulf Coast region will gradually weaken. This will allow the threat of heavy rain and strong thunderstorms to slowly diminish. However, bouts of thunderstorms are still expected, especially during late afternoon into the evening for the next couple of days. Farther to the east, the western edge of the Bermuda high offshore of the Southeast will begin to nose westward across Florida toward the Deep South. This will tend to suppress thunderstorm activities and allow afternoon temperatures to soar well up into the 90s for much of the Sunshine State into the weekend. Record high temperatures could be challenged over central Florida during the next few days. The building ridge of high pressure will also allow a Saharan dust layer to progress into much of the Gulf Coast region over the next couple of days. The main impacts of the Saharan dust will be hazy skies during the day, locally reduced visibility and degraded air quality. However, this will also make for some very colorful sunrises and sunsets with deeper oranges and reds compared to normal. Across the northern Plains, an upper-level trough will continue to advance a cold front eastward into the upper Great Lakes late on Friday before heading toward New England on Saturday. This will raise the threat of strong to severe thunderstorms, including a threat for large hail and damaging winds from west to east across these areas during the next couple of days. Locally heavy rainfall can also be expected as showers and thunderstorms develop and expand eastward ahead of the front, with localized concern for flash flooding. High temperatures into the 90s are forecast to spread from the Midwest on Friday reaching the Mid-Atlantic into the Northeast on Saturday. In the West, the interior valleys of California are expected to remain hot with temperatures as much as 10 to 15 degrees above normal over the next few days, where Heat Advisories remain in place. Meanwhile, a low pressure system developing over the interior Pacific Northwest and Albert in Canada on Friday is forecast to bring showers and some thunderstorms into the northern Rockies and northern High Plains on Saturday. Kong Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php