Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 349 PM EST Fri Dec 13 2013 Valid 00Z Sat Dec 14 2013 - 00Z Mon Dec 16 2013 ...A complicated storm system will impact the Central and Eastern U.S. this weekend... This is the tale of two fronts that will impact the Central and Eastern U.S. beginning Friday and lasting through the weekend. The front currently draped along the Great Lakes and through the Plains will continue to slide south and east. Meanwhile, along the Texas/Louisiana coastline, a cold and warm front will develop by Friday night. On Saturday, the surface low will become very well defined in the deep South and the system will strengthen as it heads north and east. With the combination of these two fronts, widespread precipitation from southeast Texas to the Great Lakes will be expected and shifting eastward with the surface. Most of the precipitation will stay west of the Appalachians from Friday evening through Saturday morning. Snow, during that period, is expected from the Ohio Valley to the Upper Midwest, with rain and embedded thunderstorms to the south. By early Saturday morning, the precipitation begins to move towards the East Coast; a transition zone of sleet and freezing rain will be present most especially along the central Appalachians. Snow will continue to fall along the Great Lakes and the Northeast while rain is expected in the Middle Atlantic and the Southeast. The precipitation quickly clears out of the Middle Atlantic and Southeast by Sunday morning, with snow and the aforementioned transition zone affecting the Northeast as the surface low hugs the Northeast coastline. The Pacific Northwest will have light showers along the coast as a Pacific front pushes through British Columbia and continues to move over the Northern Rockies and into the northern Plains. Snow in the higher elevations will begin to ramp up Friday night and linger throughout the weekend. Snow will start to inch its way into the northern Plains by Sunday morning. Fanning Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php