Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 356 AM EDT Sat Sep 05 2020 Valid 12Z Sat Sep 05 2020 - 12Z Mon Sep 07 2020 ...Severe thunderstorms along with heavy rain across parts of the Upper Midwest... ...Potentially record breaking heat in the West, southwest Louisiana and Florida... ...Critical conditions for wildfires persist across the West, Northern Rockies/Plains... Scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible through the weekend along the Gulf Coast and across parts of Texas and Florida as a cold front slowly descends from the north and slows. Across the West, hot and dry conditions will persist thanks to the ridge parked over the western states. Daily temperatures for some locations may reach 20 to 30 degrees above average, which would be daily highs in the upper 90s to triple digits. These values may tie or establish new daily records. Lows will be in the upper 70s in Florida this weekend which may break records across the state. With overnight low struggling to significantly cool down, relative humidity/dewpoints will likely not be able to recover. These means that fuels (grass, trees, shrubs, dried leaves etc) will be very dry and slightest of sparks could cause a wildfire that quickly spreads out of control. The fire risk remains elevated as dry and windy conditions will continue for the region through the weekend. A vast portion of California, Great Basin, Intermountain West and the Northern/Central High Plains have Excessive Heat Warnings, Heat Advisories and Red Flag Warnings in effect. Several large wildfires across the region are also causing areas to have hazy skies and reduced/poor air quality. Meanwhile an upper-level disturbance will drop south into the Northern Plains, allowing a surface low pressure system to spin up near the Rockies and then track across the Plains toward the Upper Midwest. The Storm Prediction Center expects strong/severe thunderstorms today across this area, particularly over southern Minnesota an northern Iowa where they have a Slight Risk area in effect; shifting to eastern Iowa/northern Illinois/southern Wisconsin/northwest Indiana on Sunday. WPC expects heavy rainfall with these storms and also has a Slight Risk in effect for this area. A secondary low pressure system will quickly spin up and track across the Plains, ushering in another round of precipitation and cooler temperatures to the central states early next week. Campbell Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php