Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 359 AM EDT Tue Nov 01 2022 Valid 12Z Tue Nov 01 2022 - 12Z Thu Nov 03 2022 ...Much needed precipitation to spread southward through California Monday night into Wednesday... ...Heavy mountain snows expected across portions of the northern Rockies, Oregon Cascades and northern to central Sierra followed by the central Rockies... ...A big cool down for areas west of the Rockies, while much above average temperatures persist to the east of the Rockies all the way to the East Coast... ...Fire weather threats increase Tuesday into Wednesday across the northern and central High Plains... The mid to upper level flow across the U.S. mainland will become increasingly amplified early this week as a strong upper trough forms along the West Coast on Tuesday and pushes inland on Wednesday. The associated cold front that has been pushing into the Pacific Northwest early today will continue to push southeast, bringing some much needed rains to portions of California beginning tonight. The heaviest precipitation is expected from northern California into the Sierra, with lighter totals expected across Southern California. While much needed, this precipitation will not make much of a dent in the extreme to exceptional drought that continues to plague much of California. Across the higher elevation, heavy snow is expected to develop from west to east through the Cascades of Oregon and southward into the northern and central Sierra of California today, followed by portions of the northern Rockies from northwest Montana, northern Idaho and northeast Oregon on Wednesday. By Wednesday night/early Thursday, central Rockies will begin to see the low elevation rain and mountain snow coming in. In addition to the mountain snows, the potent trough will bring a big cool down to temperatures across the West with below average temperatures expected Tuesday from the Pacific Northwest into California, pushing inland through the Great Basin and northern Rockies on Wednesday. In contrast, warmer than average temperatures will persist across the eastern two-thirds of the country for the next couple of days ahead of upper trough in the West. In fact, high temperatures are forecast to be up into the 70s to around 80 degrees through the Plains for the next couple of days, even some record high temperatures are forecast at certain locations in the northern Plains to the upper Midwest. Increasingly gusty and dry winds from the south are forecast to develop across large sections of the northern/central High Plains late Tuesday into early Wednesday ahead of a developing low pressure system over the northern High Plains. This will support an elevated fire weather risk from eastern Colorado, southeast Wyoming, western Nebraska and into southwest South Dakota. Along the East Coast, scattered rain associated with a couple of weak low pressure systems will largely move off the coast later today. Across southern Texas, a separate low pressure system near the tail end of a front will bring scattered showers and thunderstorms up into the Rio Grande Valley into tonight. By Wednesday, precipitation chances are forecast to diminish as the rain is forecast to move offshore. Kong/Oravec Graphics are available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php