Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 400 AM EDT Sat Apr 26 2025 Valid 12Z Sat Apr 26 2025 - 12Z Mon Apr 28 2025 ...Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms persist over the central to southern High Plains through the next couple of days with a severe weather and flash flooding threat... ...Showers and thunderstorms will spread across the East Coast today with a period of moderate to heavy rain over Maine... ...Wet snow along the Sierra Nevada, parts of the Great Basin this weekend, higher elevation of the interior New England on Sunday, and then the northern Rockies Sunday night/early Monday... ...Much below average temperatures spreading across California into the western Great Basin with much above average temperatures spreading from the Rockies through the Plains... An active Spring weather pattern will continue across large portions of the U.S. through the weekend. A low pressure system moving through the Northeast will continue to spread a broad area of showers and thunderstorms today with focus shifting east toward Maine where a period of moderate to heavy rain can be expected during the day. Lighter and more scattered showers and embedded thunderstorms will be passing through the rest of the East Coast today ahead of a trailing cold front. By tonight, colder air wrapping around the departing low pressure system could change the rain to wet snow across the higher elevation of the interior New England and continue for much of Sunday when the system slows down its forward motion. Over the mid-section of the country, strong to severe thunderstorms will be most active across the southern High Plains as upper-level disturbances eject out of the Rockies interact with a stationary front. The thunderstorms are forecast to gradually shift focus eastward from the Texas Panhandle into Oklahoma by this evening with a slight risk of flash flooding. By Sunday, a more energetic upper-level trough moving through the western U.S. will begin to develop a low pressure system over the central High Plains. Unsettled weather associated with this system will develop and expand across the northern Rockies on Sunday where wet snow is forecast for much of the higher elevations by Monday morning. The center of the low itself will track northeast into the northern Plains by Monday morning with rain and embedded thunderstorms blossoming across the region and expanding into the upper Midwest. A cold northerly wind will likely become strong and gusty from Montana to North Dakota by Monday morning while a warm and gusty southerly wind strengthens through much of the southern and central Plains to the south of the low pressure system. The threat of severe thunderstorms will be much increased Sunday night across the northern-central Plains as the intensifying low pressure system tracks across the region. A deep upper-level low moving through the western U.S. will bring an expanding area of unsettled weather through the region this weekend. Shower and storm chances with periods of moderate rainfall will shift eastward from California and Oregon into the Great Basin today, reaching into the northern Rockies on Sunday. Locally heavier rainfall may lead to some isolated flooding concerns across northern Nevada on Sunday. In addition to the rainfall, the deep upper-level low and cooler temperatures will bring some snowfall for higher elevations of the mountains, particularly for the Sierra Nevada today and areal ranges of the Great Basin/northern Rockies into Sunday. Winter Weather Advisories are in place for the Sierra for snow totals of 3-6", locally higher. Some snow may mix in for lower elevations of the Great Basin by later today and into Sunday morning, though any accumulations look to remain limited. Precipitation is forecast to gradually taper off by Sunday night into Monday morning when the system begins to move farther away to the northeast. The active pattern will lead to some varying and notably above/below average temperatures through the weekend. Another day of above average highs are forecast for most of the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic today before a cold front brings cooler temperatures on Sunday, with above average conditions expected through the weekend across the Southeast. A cooler, below average day across the Midwest following the cold front passage will be followed by a bit of a warm up to average conditions on Sunday. Much above average highs are forecast across the Rockies and will expand into the Plains on Sunday. The deep upper-level low moving over the West will bring much below average temperatures to California today and expand more broadly into the Great Basin/Southwest by Sunday. Kong/Putnam Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php