144 FXUS01 KWBC 240611 PMDSPD Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 210 AM EDT Sun May 24 2026 Valid 12Z Sun May 24 2026 - 12Z Tue May 26 2026 ...Wet, stormy, and unsettled weather continues for much of the eastern half of the U.S. through Memorial Day... ...Warm and mainly dry weather across the West gives way to increasing shower chances early to mid next week... Low pressure systems interacting with robust moisture along a slow-moving and wavy frontal boundary will continue to result in wet and active weather across much of the eastern half of the country through Memorial Day. Multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms are expected from the Lower Mississippi Valley, Mid-South, and Southeast, to the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast the next couple of days. While widespread severe weather is unlikely, a few clusters of storms within the warm and humid air mass along and south of the front may become locally strong to severe. Should that occur, damaging winds and hail would be the main threats. Storms may also produce heavy downpours, especially across parts of the Ohio Valley and central Appalachians today and for portions of the central Gulf Coast and Southeast on Memorial Day. A Slight Risk (level 2/4) of excessive rainfall has been issued for both regions, highlighting the potential for scattered instances of flash flooding where soils are already saturated from prior rainfall. North of the boundary, a strong area of high pressure positioned over eastern Canada continues to wedge up against the eastern slopes of the Appalachians, keeping the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast cloudy, damp, and unseasonably cool. Warmer air does try to advance northward later Sunday into Memorial Day as the Canadian high pressure retreats eastward, but it may take time to scour out all of the cool and moist air trapped in the lowest levels of the atmosphere. The surge of warmer air will also likely bring additional risks of showers and thunderstorms though with increasing dry time in between wetter periods. In contrast to the wet and stormy weather across the East, the Western U.S. will stay unseasonably warm and mainly dry through Sunday as broad upper-level ridging remains in place. High temperatures will continue to run several degrees above normal, peaking in the 70s and 80s for most. The hottest temperatures will stay confined to the desert valleys of California, Nevada, and Arizona where highs will soar well into the 90s and 100s through early next week. A few spotty showers may pop up over the higher terrain of the Rockies and Sierra on Sunday afternoon, but these wouldn't be heavy enough or last long enough to spoil holiday plans. Most places across the West stay dry on Memorial Day too, though a few more scattered mountain and high valley showers and storms are likely to flare up across the central and southern Rockies during the afternoon as moisture increases. The Pacific Northwest and northern Intermountain West then start to become more active later Monday into Tuesday with the arrival of a Pacific low pressure system that is likely to bring fairly widespread rain showers inland. Colder air associated with this low may even allow rain showers to mix with or change to a little snow in the highest elevations of the Cascades Monday night into Tuesday. At the very least, the colder air will bring the extended stretch of unseasonable warmth across the West to an end, with near to below normal temperatures sticking around through midweek. Miller Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php $$