Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 351 PM EST Fri Dec 27 2013 Valid 00Z Sat Dec 28 2013 - 00Z Mon Dec 30 2013 ...Conditions will become increasingly wet across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic States... ...A plunging arctic boundary will bring another shot of winter to the Northern and Central U.S.... A surface low spinning up in the Gulf of Mexico will spread moderate to heavy rains over much of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states this weekend as it moves inland over the Florida Panhandle...tracks northeastward through Georgia...and then quickly deepens while tracking up the Atlantic Seaboard...reaching the New Jersey coast by Sunday evening. A few rumbles of thunder will be possible...but flash flooding will be the main threat with this system. Although this will be a predominantly rain event...snow will be a possibility within the northwestern fringe of the precipitation shield late in the period. After a few days of relative warmth...an arctic boundary dropping down from Canada will bring another shot of winter to the Northern and Central U.S.. Gusty winds and plummeting temperatures will make for blustery conditions behind the front. This system will be fairly moisture starved; However, an axis of light snows should still set up to the north of the boundary...and a surface low developing along the front should help enhance snowfall amounts as it steadily tracks through the Upper Great Lakes. Also...favored orographics will help trigger some light snows over the Northern and Central Rockies. Conditions will remain fairly quiet across the Western U.S. this weekend. Light shower activity will be possible with a weakening Pacific system moving inland over the Northwest while the Southwest will remain dry and relatively warm. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php