Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 310 PM EDT Sat Oct 26 2024 Valid 00Z Sun Oct 27 2024 - 00Z Tue Oct 29 2024 ...Pacific storm system to bring beneficial rain and higher elevation snow to the Northwest... ...Very warm and dry fall weather to shift east from the Rockies into the Plains, Mississippi River Valley and Midwest through early this week... A large Pacific storm system will continue to move into the northwestern U.S. over the next couple of days, bringing colder temperatures and much needed rain/mountain snow to the region. Ongoing light rain across portions of western Washington and Oregon will increase in intensity through Sunday morning as a cold front moves inland. Rain showers will continue in the wake of the front with onshore flow affecting northern California to the Washington Cascades on Sunday, but colder air will also be filtering into from the west. This will allow for a changeover to snow for the higher elevations of the Olympics, Cascades into the northern Rockies from Sunday into Monday. Precipitation should be largely beneficial given modest forecast intensities and ongoing drought conditions in place for much of the northwestern quadrant of the U.S. There will also be gusty winds for portions of the Interior West as the storm system moves inland on Sunday, especially in the lee of the northern Rockies in Montana where a High Wind Warning is in effect for wind gusts up to 70 mph. Elsewhere across the lower 48, conditions will remain dry and rather warm for late October for most areas outside of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. High temperatures of 10 to 20+ degrees above average will encompass a large portion of the west-central U.S. on Sunday, stretching from the Great Basin into the High Plains. The anomalous warmth will shift eastward for Monday and Tuesday, reaching the Midwest to lower Mississippi River Valley. On Monday, high temperature departures from average across the central Plains into portions of the Upper Midwest are expected to run 20 to 30 degrees above late October averages. In terms of precipitation, while most areas will remain dry to the east of the Continental Divide, light showers are expected from the eastern U.P. of Michigan into northern New York and northern New England as a couple of upper level disturbances pass over the region, with colder air on Sunday/Sunday night supporting wet snow mixing in. Farther south, scattered showers and thunderstorms will linger near a slow moving cold front stretching from northeastern Texas to the Southeast. While an isolated inch or two will be possible within a couple of thunderstorms over the Carolinas through tonight, most areas will receive far less or even nothing, with an isolated threat for showers continuing into Monday morning. Otto Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php