440 FXUS01 KWBC 150818 PMDSPD Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 400 AM EDT Wed Apr 15 2026 Valid 12Z Wed Apr 15 2026 - 12Z Fri Apr 17 2026 ...Late season snow for the Cascades and northern Rockies but April heat for the Mid-Atlantic... ...A slight risk of severe thunderstorms into tonight over from the southern Plains through the Midwest and into the lower Great Lakes... ...A slight risk of severe thunderstorms on Thursday across the interior Northeast... A wavy front continues to undulate across the Great Lakes through New England. Strong to severe thunderstorms are periodically triggered as low pressure waves form near the front and then track eastward. Meanwhile, a strong ridge of high pressure extending west from Bermuda will only allow the trailing portion of the front to slowly nudge eastward over the next couple of days. Under this pattern, more strong to severe thunderstorms will redevelop today and into tonight across the central and southern Plains mainly to the east of a dryline. The hazards associated with these thunderstorms are frequent lightning, damaging wind gusts, hail, and a few tornadoes. By Thursday, this weather pattern will begin to break down with less widespread coverage of thunderstorms as they move across the Mid-Mississippi Valley. The wavy front across the Great Lakes and New England will take one more day to break down. Therefore, strong to severe thunderstorms are expected to be most active on Thursday across upstate New York while rounds of showers and embedded thunderstorms will continue to extend across the lower Great Lakes through interior New England through Thursday. These thunderstorm activities should finally be tapering off across the lower Great Lakes Thursday night but they will continue for New England into Friday morning. Over the Pacific Northwest, the arrival of a cold front early this morning is signaling the beginning of a cold snap that will sweep through a good portion of western U.S. reaching into the northern Plains by Friday morning. Temperatures will be drastically colder behind this potent front along with a good dose of mountain snow and windy conditions. A round of coastal rain will develop along the Northwest Coast through today as well. Meanwhile, a foot of new snow can be expected along the Cascades and through the northern Rockies beginning later today, reaching into the central Rockies by Friday morning. Rain is expected to change over to snow across the northern Plains behind the cold front early on Friday as a low pressure system develops over the central High Plains. The Bermuda High that helps feeding the moisture into the southern Plains to fuel the thunderstorms will also bring anomalous warmth into the eastern U.S. Widespread record high temperatures are forecast this afternoon across the east-central U.S. maximizing with 90-degree-plus heat over the Mid-Atlantic. The heat is forecast to continue into Thursday before a slight moderation in temperatures arrives on Friday as the Bermuda High begins to break down. Kong Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php $$