Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 259 PM EST Mon Feb 01 2016 Valid 00Z Tue Feb 02 2016 - 00Z Thu Feb 04 2016 ...Significant winter storm expected to spread heavy snow from the Rockies to the Upper Midwest through Tuesday... ...Severe weather possible from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Ohio Valley on Tuesday... ...Above average temperatures expected for the eastern portion of the country on Tuesday and Wednesday... A vigorous low pressure system will move from the Central Rockies tonight, across the Central Plains on Tuesday, into the Upper Great Lakes by Wednesday. This will spread heavy snowfall from the Central Rockies to the Upper Great Lakes Tuesday into Wednesday. Up to an additional foot of snow is still possible tonight in the highest elevations of Colorado, but the bulk of the snow will move into the Central Plains and the Upper Midwest by Tuesday where as much as 6 to 15 inches of snow is possible from far northeast Colorado to Southeast Wisconsin. Snow will spread into the Upper Great Lakes by Wednesday with 6 to 10 inches expected across parts of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A tightening pressure gradient around the low itself will result in gusty winds expected to bring blizzard conditions. Blizzard warnings are currently in effect for portions of the Central Plains and the Upper Midwest where wind gusts in excess of 40 mph may be possible. This would result in dangerous and hazardous travel conditions. This same system is also expected to bring heavy rainfall and strong to severe thunderstorms on Tuesday from the Gulf Coast states to the Great Lakes as warm and moisture rich air streams northward out of the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the cold front. The Storm Prediction Center has highlighted a slight to elevated risk for severe weather from the Central Gulf Coast to the Ohio Valley. The heavy rainfall will spread into the Eastern U.S. by Wednesday. Given the recent warm weather resulting in rapid snow melt and overly saturated soils combined with the heavy rainfall, flooding and flash flooding could be an issue across parts of Eastern Kentucky into the Mid-Atlantic. Warm weather will continue across the eastern half of the country on Tuesday where temperatures could be as much as 20 to 25 degrees above normal across parts of the Tennessee Valley into the Ohio Valley. Once the Central U.S. storm system moves through, temperatures will drop to near normal on Wednesday across the Central Plains and the Mississippi Valley, but temperatures 10 to 20 degrees warmer than average will remain on Wednesday for the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. And finally, rain and higher elevation snow will return to the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West as yet another system targets the area by Wednesday. There should not be nearly as much moisture accompanying this system as the last one a few days ago, but some light snow accumulations could be possible for the highest elevations of the Cascades and parts of the Northern Rockies. Santorelli Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php