Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 254 PM EST Fri Nov 15 2024 Valid 00Z Sat Nov 16 2024 - 00Z Mon Nov 18 2024 ...Next storm system enters the Pacific Northwest Saturday into Sunday bringing coastal rain and mountain snow... ...Elevated fire weather concerns will continue across parts of the Northeast through the weekend... ...Heavy rain and severe weather potential to develop over the Southern Plains late Sunday... Unsettled weather over portions of the western U.S. will clear from west to east into the day on Saturday as a surface low and associated cold front move into the Great Plains. As precipitation reaches eastern Montana into western North Dakota on Saturday, light snow accumulations up to an inch or two may occur in a few places but surface temperatures will be too warm to support anything greater. The West will only see a brief lull in the stormy pattern before the next system approaches the Pacific Northwest during the day on Saturday. Onshore flow ahead of a southeastward moving cold front will bring rain and higher elevation snow to western Washington and Oregon before spreading into the northern Rockies Saturday night into Sunday. A couple of inches of rain are expected for the typical westward facing portions of the Coastal Ranges and lower elevation Cascades with 1-2 feet of snow for the northern Washington Cascades through Sunday evening. While the stormy pattern in the West will keep temperatures below average along and west of the Rockies, above average warmth will spread eastward from the Great Plains to the eastern U.S. through the weekend. High temperatures are forecast to be 5 to 15 degrees above average from the southern High Plains into the Upper Midwest on Saturday, with that warmth pushing east to the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Valley for Sunday. High pressure will also keep many locations from the Plains eastward dry through Monday. The dry conditions and breezy winds from eastern Pennsylvania into southern/central New England will allow for the continuation of increased fire weather dangers with the Storm Prediction Center highlighting these regions with an Elevated Risk for the spreading of wildfires. One exception to the dry pattern will be across New Mexico into Texas and Oklahoma beginning late Sunday morning. By late in the day Sunday, the approach of a powerful upper level storm system over the Arizona/Mexico border will bring increased chances for heavy rain, flash flooding and severe thunderstorms to portions of eastern New Mexico, west-central Texas into southwestern Oklahoma. These threats are likely to continue through Sunday night for the Southern Plains as the storm system moves eastward. Otto Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php