A cool air mass dipping from central Canada toward the Great Lakes will bring below normal temperatures across the northern tier and down as far south as the central Plains for a change over the next few days.
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On the other hand, the arrival of the cool air will be accompanied with rounds of strong to possibly thunderstorms along with areas of heavy rain from the central Plains eastward, where the most active weather is expected to persist between a pair of slow-moving fronts.
The area most susceptible to heavy rain will likely be across the Tennessee Valley through Thursday night.
Meanwhile to the south of the frontal boundaries, monsoonal moisture is forecast to persist across the Four-corners region through the next few days.
Day-time heating will continue to trigger scattered thunderstorms across the region each day.
Some of the thunderstorms will likely contain heavy downpours that could lead to flash flooding concerns especially over burn scars.
Some of the monsoonal moisture is forecast to spill northeastward and interact with the aforementioned slow-moving fronts to trigger an area of heavy rain over portions of the central High Plans Thursday night before edging east toward the central Plains on Friday.
Flash flooding will be a concern should the heavy rain becomes slow-moving under this weather pattern.
For the rest of the country, the heat will continue to be the story especially over the Pacific Northwest where afternoon temperatures could exceed 110 degrees at the hottest locations in the interior section on Thursday and Friday.
Seattle and Portland metro areas will likely see high temperatures reaching into the mid and upper 90s respectively over the next couple of days.
Nights will be abnormally warm as well with record high minimum temperatures possible.
Over the southern Plains, the heat should be slightly less intense for the next couple of days as the cool air mass from the north edges ever so slightly toward the region.
Farther east, heat and humidity is forecast to build along the East Coast as a warm front lifts northward across the region and into New England by Friday.
Hottest temperatures are forecast to be in the Carolinas where upper 90s are expected for afternoon highs. ■