Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 327 PM EDT Fri Oct 25 2024 Valid 00Z Sat Oct 26 2024 - 00Z Mon Oct 28 2024 ...Rain over parts of the Northeast this weekend along with increasing winds over interior portions of the Northwest... ...Warm and dry for many across the lower 48... A large upper level low/trough will move into the northwestern U.S. this weekend, bringing rain to the Pacific Northwest tonight into Saturday morning and continuing through the weekend. Rainfall intensity will vary over the next two days but total rainfall through Sunday of 2 to 4 inches across the Coastal Ranges and Cascades (locally higher) will be beneficial as much of the region has been drier than average over the past month. Snow will be limited to the highest elevations of the Olympics and Washington/Oregon Cascades, at least through Sunday morning, before colder air filters in for the latter half of Sunday. Excluding the Northwest, outside of a few showers and thunderstorms from the Ozarks to the central Appalachians and southern Mid-Atlantic near a progressive cold front, much of the lower 48 will remain warm and dry through Sunday. This will be due to a lack of higher atmospheric moisture and the stabilizing influence of high pressure from the Great Plains to the East Coast. Locations to the south of the progressive cold front, from the Southeast into Texas, as well as portions of the Southwest, will see high temperatures of 10 to 20 degrees above late October averages this weekend. Highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s across the Deep South may break a few daily high temperature records. Farther north, while not expected to be record breaking warmth, anomalous high temperatures of 15 to 25 degrees above average will focus from the central to northern High Plains this weekend with downsloping winds aloft. In advance of the storm system to impact the Northwest, some of these winds will be gusty across interior portions of the Northwest to north-central U.S., especially in the lee of the northern Rockies in Montana where a High Wind Watch is in effect for Sunday with wind gusts of 55 to 70 mph possible. One exception to the warm and dry conditions for much of the nation will be southeast of lakes Erie and Ontario where lake effect showers will keep temperatures cooler than average behind a series of cold fronts. Northern New England will also see showers under the influence of upper troughing and a series of cold fronts. Some snow mixing in will also be possible for Saturday night into Sunday from the Adirondacks into northern Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Cooler than average temperatures will also extend southward into the Mid-Atlantic region, but conditions will remain dry for these southern locations. A few lake effect showers are also expected for the eastern U.P. of Michigan and northern Lower Michigan this weekend but temperatures will be a little above average through Sunday. Otto Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php