Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 328 PM EDT Fri Apr 02 2021 Valid 00Z Sat Apr 03 2021 - 00Z Mon Apr 05 2021 ...Widespread freezing temperatures and record-breaking cold are expected from the Southeast to the Northeast on Saturday morning... ...Low humidity and windy conditions will support an Elevated Risks of fire weather over most of the Plains and parts of the southwestern Florida peninsula through Saturday morning... A front extending from the Northern Intermountain Region eastward to the Upper Mississippi Valley will slowly move eastward to the Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, and roughly westward to the Northwest by Easter Sunday. The system will produce light rain and snow over parts of the Lower Great Lakes into Up-State New York overnight Saturday into Easter Sunday morning. Upper-level energy over the Southwest will move eastward to Texas by Sunday. The system will draw moisture off the Gulf of Mexico and produce scattered showers and thunderstorms over parts of Texas starting on Saturday afternoon and going through Sunday evening. A weak front pushing onshore over the Pacific Northwest overnight Saturday will move eastward to the Northern High Plains by Sunday evening. The system will produce light rain and higher elevation snow over parts of the Pacific Northwest late Saturday night, spreading eastward to parts of the Northern Intermountain Region by Easter Sunday evening. High pressure over the Ohio Valley will move into the Southeast by Saturday afternoon. The high will linger over the Southeast and slowly weaken. The high will bring in unseasonably cold temperatures through Saturday morning and moderate closer to average by Sunday. Temperatures are forecast to be 10 to 25 degrees below normal for much of the country's eastern third, and many daily records for low minimum and maximum temperatures could be set. Freeze/Hard Freeze Warnings and Watches and Frost Advisories are widespread from the Tennessee Valleys into the Southern Ohio Valley/Mid-Atlantic through Saturday morning. These cold temperatures in early April, over the Southeast and parts of the Mid-Atlantic, could cause damage to early-season crops and plants. However, the western and north-central U.S. can expect much warmer temperatures through Sunday evening, with much above average and possibly record-breaking warm temperatures. The Southwest should see temperatures in the upper 90s, while the 80s are forecast for Northern and Central portions of the Plains. Unfortunately, these warm temperatures combined with dry soils, low relative humidity, and gusty winds will lead to Elevated Risks of fire weather for parts of the Plains, as delineated by the Storm Prediction Center. There is also an Elevated Risk of fire danger across the southwestern Florida peninsula coast given some gusty post-frontal winds and dry soil conditions. Ziegenfelder Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php