Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 300 AM EST Thu Jan 24 2019 Valid 12Z Thu Jan 24 2019 - 12Z Sat Jan 26 2019 ...Rain changing to snow today as an active cold front moves across the Eastern Seaboard... ...Snow over the northern Rockies will gradually taper off... ...Cold weather expected to spread across the Plains into the Southeast into the weekend... A mild air stream from the south has quickly brought above normal temperatures up the East Coast ahead of an active cold front. A wide swath rain will accompany this cold front as it sweeps across the entire Eastern Seaboard today with some potential for heavy rain which could result in flooding issues for southern New England. The eastern Gulf coast will see the best chance of strong to severe thunderstorms this morning before the cold front moves off into the Atlantic. Cold air behind the front is expected to change the rain to a period of snow up the spine of the Appalachians today and across interior New England tonight. Over the northern Plains, the next surge of arctic air from central Canada has arrived. A clipper low pressure system developing along an arctic front is bringing a brief period of snow squalls across the upper Midwest. The snow is expected to move into the Great Lakes tonight and lingers into Friday over the lake effect snow belts. Arctic air is forecast to linger over the upper Midwest into the weekend where temperatures of more than 20 degrees below normal can be expected. Meanwhile, a warming trend will begin to set in across the northern High Plains as Chinook winds develop behind an arctic high pressure system. This arctic high is forecast to plunge southeastward through the Plains through Friday, reaching the Southeast on Saturday bringing cold conditions to much of the Deep South for the weekend. Meanwhile, snow across the northern Rockies are expected to gradually taper off into scattered light snow by tonight. It appears that more quiet weather is returning to much of the western U.S. as we head into the weekend. Kong Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php