Light to moderate rain will continue in the Mid-Atlantic through the evening hours as a low-pressure system continues to progress eastward into the open waters of the Atlantic.
Isolated areas near the D.C. Metro and DelMarVa peninsula may experience brief periods of heavy rain while the system tracks offshore.
In its wake, above-average temperatures and dry conditions should build into the region before the next system arrives Friday evening.
Further west, a storm system will bring the potential for multiple weather hazards as it moves through the Plains this afternoon.
Warm, moist air being advected northward from the Gulf of Mexico will help fuel the potential for severe thunderstorms from Texas to the Lower Mississippi Valley, where the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has placed the area under a Slight Risk of severe weather.
Hazards such as damaging winds, large hail, and tornadoes are all possible.
Because of the convective nature of these thunderstorms, the potential also exists for heavy rainfall rates leading to flash flooding, eliciting a Marginal Risk of Excessive Rainfall.
West of the severe thunderstorms, behind a dryline associated with this system, portions of central and western Texas have been highlighted in an Extremely Critical Risk area of fire weather by the SPC due to exceptionally dry conditions, with low relative humidity levels and strong winds.
Further north, in the cold sector of this system, Blizzard Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories have been issued for portions of Kansas, where 3 to 6 inches of snow is forecast to fall through Friday morning.
Strong winds in excess of 60 mph may lead to whiteout conditions at times in parts of Central Kansas, making travel hazardous, if not impossible.
As the system continues its eastward movement, so will the threat for severe thunderstorms, with an Enhanced Risk being issued by the Storm Prediction Center on Friday in southern Alabama and the Florida panhandle, and a Slight Risk extending northward into the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys.
Damaging winds, hail, and isolated tornadoes, including the potential for a significant tornado, are all possible.
Furthermore, the potential for heavy rain rates exists in these thunderstorms, prompting a Marginal Risk for flash flooding in southern Alabama.
Rain will begin to overspread much of the East Coast into the Friday evening and Saturday morning hours as the severe thunderstorm threat shifts into the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.
A broad area of 0.5 - 1" of rain, with locally higher amounts in thunderstorms, is expected throughout much of the Eastern U.S.
through Saturday before conditions begin to improve from west to east during the evening hours.
Behind the exiting low-pressure system, tranquil and seasonable weather is forecast for the eastern half of the CONUS with temperatures in the 60s and 70s in the Northeast to the 80s in the South.
Elsewhere, the Pacific Northwest will contend with a pair of storm systems.
The first wave of low pressure ushers an initial round of showers and mountain snow to the western Washington Thursday afternoon and evening.
After a brief break in the action on Friday, the next wave of showers arrives Friday night and continues into Saturday.
A cold front will progress eastward throughout the day Saturday, spreading the chance for low elevation rain and mountain snow into the northern Rockies, Great Basin, and California.
Snow accumulations should remain limited to higher mountain peaks, with totals between 4-8 inches possible. ■
A strong storm that originated over the Pacific has tracked through the Great Basin and is currently transitioning across the Rockies to redevelop across the central High Plains later today into early Saturday morning.