After a relative quiet period, the week's second half will get busier. Storms and downpours could spell trouble across the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys while the Northwest needs look westward. The Breakfast Brief is published daily, Monday through Friday, at 5:00 a.m. Eastern time.

A developing spring-like storm sweeping out of Texas and the Ozarks will spread thunderstorms and downpours eastward into the South and the lower Mississippi and Ohio valleys. As the WeatherRadar shows, there will be embedded thunderstorms producing downpours.

The downpours could produce several inches in a short amount of time, triggering flash flooding. Make sure alerts are turned on because storms will occur before dawn and after sunset.

The backside of this system could produce a bit of snow across eastern Colorado into the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles.

A fresh batch of quick-moving snow will streak across the western Great Lakes into Northeast. Just like on Wednesday, a few squalls could cause white-out conditions. It will be important to track them on the WeatherRadar before heading out.

The rest of the U.S. will be quiet. However, the West Coast will begin to see increasing clouds as a new Pacific storms approaches. It will be a bigger story on Friday and Saturday as several waves of rain and mountain snow pushes ashore.