Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 321 PM EDT Thu Mar 24 2016 Valid 00Z Fri Mar 25 2016 - 00Z Sun Mar 27 2016 ...Cold front will bring rain/thunder to the eastern third of the country, with snow and freezing rain from the Upper Lakes to northern New England... ...Rain and higher elevation snow expected for the Northwest U.S moving into the Rockies, Northern Plains, and Upper Midwest... A strong cold front moving eastward through the Ohio Valley this evening will continue to fuel heavy rainfall and thunderstorms across portions of the central/eastern Gulf Coast to the Lower Great Lakes. Isolated severe thunderstorms will be possible across the Central Gulf Coast states, as per the latest Storm Prediction Center outlook. Late tonight, rain will move into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states, and while most of the activity will likely be light to moderate rain showers, a few rumbles of thunder cannot be ruled out. Scattered showers and thunderstorms in the Southeast remain in the forecast through the holiday weekend as the southern portion of this boundary across the Gulf of Mexico may begin to lift north as a warm front by Saturday. On the north side of this system, a couple of inches of snow are still possible across the Upper Great Lakes tonight. Snow and freezing rain will move into portions of northern New England, with up to a quarter of an inch of ice possible. The heaviest of the snow should stay north of the boundary in southeast Canada, but may clip northern Maine with a few inches of the white stuff. Valley rain and higher elevation snow will accompany a cold front moving through the Intermountain West and the Rockies tonight, but snowfall accumulations across the mountains should be minimal, except in the highest terrain of the northern/central Rockies where up to a foot or more is possible. As this front pushes into the Plains, another round of light snow will be possible across the Northern Plains/Upper Midwest with rain farther south across the Central/Southern Plains and the Middle Mississippi Valley. Santorelli Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php