Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 247 AM EST Sat Nov 30 2013 Valid 12Z Sat Nov 30 2013 - 12Z Mon Dec 02 2013 ...A fairly significant precipitation event is setting itself up for the Pacific Northwest... ...Light and scattered snow showers possible for the Great Lakes and into New England by Sunday... Saturday should be another day of light and scattered snow or rain showers for the Washington Cascades and Northern Rockies. By Sunday however, a closed upper level vortex will begin dropping south from the Gulf of Alaska and precipitation will be on the increase across much of the Pacific Northwest and into the Northern Rockies. Strong onshore flow will stream plenty of moisture inland to fuel moderate to heavy rain for coastal areas of Washington and Oregon overnight Saturday and into Sunday, and heavy accumulating snow for parts of the Northern Rockies by Sunday afternoon. A few widely scattered snow showers also should not be ruled out for parts of the Northern Great Plains as the system moves farther inland, but little to no accumulation is expected there. Across the rest of the nation, the weather should remain fairly quiet. A clipper system moving into the Great Lakes region on Saturday could trigger a few scattered snow showers downwind of the lakes and across New England... with rain expected for the coastal regions. With the exception of extreme Northern New England, any accumulation of snow should remain north of the U.S./Canadian border. Down south, northeasterly flow off the Atlantic could bring a few scattered showers or thunderstorms for the coastal Southeast U.S. Monarski Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php