Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 324 PM EST Fri Jan 10 2014 Valid 00Z Sat Jan 11 2014 - 00Z Mon Jan 13 2014 ...Temperatures to rise over the East on Saturday and Saturday night...but heavy rain will also fall... ...Significant storm will move across the Pacific Northwest with heavy rains...high winds...and significant mountain snows as far east as the Rockies.... A storm system is developing today over the middle of the country and low pressure will move northeastward across the Midwest. While some light to moderate snow will fall over portions of the Upper Midwest...moderate to heavy rain will be more widespread and will be developing out ahead of the cold front accompanying the storm system. Lingering freezing rain/snow and sleet across the Northeast is expected to change to plain rain for all locations on Saturday. Rainfall totals are expected to be in the 1 to 2 inch range from the Gulf Coast northeastward across the interior Southeast and then along much of the entire Atlantic coastline north of North Carolina. Heaviest rainfall is expected from New York City to New England. Cooler clearing skies will follow on Sunday in the wake of the rainfall but temperatures will still be relatively mild as all remnants of the recent cold spell have vanished from the scene. While clearing skies and cooler temperatures will return to the Plains states on Saturday...temperatures will again be on the rise for Sunday up across the Mississippi Valley providing a respite from recent winter cold. The respite will of course be brief because the next frontal system will approach from the west later on Sunday into Sunday night. This next system has its roots across the Pacific Northwest where a significant storm system will move ashore later tonight and on Saturday...spreading heavy rainfall...high winds and very heavy snowfall especially across the Cascades...where at least 1 to 2 feet of snow is expected in the highest peaks. Several inches of rain is expected along the Washington/Oregon coasts and will be accompanied by possible gale force winds and higher along the coast. As this storm system moves inland late on Saturday and into Sunday...the storm will lose much of its strength as it crosses the Western Mountains but will still produce locally heavy snow for the many mountain ranges from northern California across the Great Basin and into the central and northern Rockies as another strong cold front pushes eastward across much of the West. By Monday morning...another wet storm system will be forming over the lower Mississippi Valley while the East Coast warms up again as high pressure moves off the Atlantic coast. Kocin Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php