Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 354 PM EDT Tue Mar 22 2016 Valid 00Z Wed Mar 23 2016 - 00Z Fri Mar 25 2016 ...Heavy snow expected to spread from the Intermountain West to the Northern/Central Plains and the Upper Midwest... ...Severe weather possible across the Lower Mississippi Valley on Wednesday and parts of the Deep South on Thursday... ...Significant fire weather threat possible for portions of the Southwest and into the Southern Plains/Middle Mississippi Valley... An upper level system moving through the Northwest U.S. this afternoon will continue to allow for valley rain and higher elevation snows across much of the Intermountain West and the Northern/Central Rockies. As much as 1 to 1.5 feet of snow could be possible for the highest elevations of the Central Rockies through Wednesday morning, with activity weakening by Wednesday afternoon as higher pressure noses into the region. As the upper level energy begins to move into the Central U.S. on Wednesday...a surface low is expected to spin up and deepen as it moves across the Central Plains on Wednesday and the Middle Mississippi Valley Thursday. Cold air on the north side of this system should allow for heavy snow to spread from the Central/Northern Plains to the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, where as much as 6 to 12 inches of snow is forecast. Even higher amounts of 10 to 15 inches are possible from far southeast Minnesota to northern lower Michigan. Freezing rain may also develop on the southern edge of the cold air from southern Wisconsin to central Michigan. Ahead of the cold front, heavy rainfall and strong thunderstorms are expected from the Southern Plains/Mississippi Valley and into the Ohio Valley and the Deep South. The Storm Prediction Center has highlighted a slight chance for severe weather from northeast Texas to Southern Missouri on Wednesday, and portions of the Southeast and Tennessee Valley on Thursday. On the backside of this system, very warm and dry air coming off the mountains combined with strong winds will increase the fire weather threat Wednesday and Thursday. In fact, the Storm Prediction Center is talking about a critical to extreme risk for fire weather from eastern Arizona to Kansas. Numerous Red Flag Warnings are in effect across these regions and even into portions of the Middle Mississippi Valley. Meanwhile in the Southeast and the East, strong southerly flow will allow for seasonably warm temperatures to persist over the next few days. Afternoon temperatures could be as much as 10 to 15 degrees above normal for this time of the year, especially across the Mid-Atlantic region. Santorelli Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php