Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 316 AM EST Mon Jan 13 2014 Valid 12Z Mon Jan 13 2014 - 12Z Wed Jan 15 2014 ...Conditions will continue to improve over the Northwest... ...Moderate to heavy rains expected across the Gulf Coast States... ...Clipper system will bring strong winds and trigger light snows while dropping through the north central U.S.... After a weekend of heavy mountain snows...soaking rains...and gusty winds...conditions will continue to improve over the northwestern corner of the Nation. An upper ridge building back in over the West Coast/eastern Pacific should keep the majority of locations west of the Continental Divide precipitation free for the start of the work week. Widespread shower activity is expected ahead of a cold front edging through the eastern half of the Country Monday and Tuesday. The heaviest and most organized area of precipitation will be across the southern tier of the Nation...near a surface low steadily tracking eastward through the Gulf Coast states. Once the low begins to lift northeastward and intensify...it could clip the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast coasts with heavier precipitation while tracking up the Eastern Seaboard on Tuesday. This will be predominately a rain event; however...a wintry mix will be possible with precipitation breaking out across the Great Lakes and interior New England. Strong winds and a shot of cooler air are expected with a clipper system diving through the north central U.S. early this week. The system will be quite moisture starved...but a swath of snows will be possible near the surface low streaking down through the Dakotas on Monday and racing towards the Upper Great Lakes on Tuesday. Upstream...a deep surface cyclone dropping down through Canada late in the period could bring another round of strong and gusty winds to the northern Plains by Wednesday morning. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php