Cool, showery weather for the Heartland; active, early-season tropical pattern ahead

A cold front currently stretching from the Great Lakes region to the southern Plains will drift eastward, sparking showers and locally severe thunderstorms.  By Thursday and early Friday, the front will largely clear the East Coast, moving over the western Atlantic Ocean. 

Meanwhile, development of a tropical depression or tropical storm can be expected during the next few days over the northwestern Caribbean Sea or the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. 

Potentially excessive rainfall (locally 5 to 10 inches or more) could fall across southern Florida during the next 5 days. 

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