Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 311 AM EDT Thu Oct 15 2020 Valid 12Z Thu Oct 15 2020 - 12Z Sat Oct 17 2020 ...Much cooler temperatures push into the Central/Southern Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley on Thursday then into the eastern U.S. Friday and Saturday... ...Much above average temperatures will persist from the Southwest into California along with a continued fire weather threat... ..Relatively dry pattern across the nation for the next two days. Increasingly wet from New England to the coastal Mid-Atlantic, and across the Northern Rockies and Upper Midwest/Great Lakes late Friday into Saturday morning... A cold front will continue descending through the Southern Plains today. This front will produce rain and scattered to isolated thunderstorms across parts of eastern Texas and the ArkLaTex region. It will also bring much cooler temperatures to a significant portion of the central U.S. today with high temperatures 20 to 30 degrees cooler from the Upper Mississippi Valley and into the Central to Southern Plains compared to high temperatures on Wednesday. This strong front will continue to push into the eastern U.S. today, bringing much cooler temperatures to points east of the Mississippi river Friday into Saturday. No let up in sight regarding the above average temperature pattern from the Southwest into California for the end of the week and continuing into the weekend. These hot temperatures, low relative humidity and gusty winds will keep the fire weather threat Elevated to Critical across much of California through the end of this week. The overall weather pattern for the nation is a relatively dry one over the next two days. The strong front moving south and east from the mid section of the nation will have generally light precipitation amounts associated with it through Friday. By the end of Friday, this front may begin to produce more substantial wet weather from the coastal Mid-Atlantic, northward into New England as an area of low pressure develops along this front. The chance of precipitation increases late Friday for the Northern Rockies into the Northern High Plains with snow possible for the far northern Montana Rockies. Wintry weather may spread eastward across the Northern Plains and into the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes by Saturday morning as the low pressure system emerging from the Northern Rockies deepens. Kebede/Oravec Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php