Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 352 PM EST Thu Jan 30 2014 Valid 00Z Fri Jan 31 2014 - 00Z Sun Feb 2 2014 ***Rain and mountain snow returns to the West*** ***Another storm system organizing over the Central U.S.*** ***Severe cold along the East Coast is abating*** After a lengthy period of dry and warm weather across California and into the Inter-Mountain West, a pattern change is bringing a welcomed return to badly needed rain and mountain snow. A cold front from the Pacific, along with shortwave energy aloft, is allowing for the development of heavy snow from the Sierra Mountains to the Central Rockies, and showers for the lower elevations of California and the Desert Southwest. Upper level energy from this same disturbance is expected to result in the cyclogenesis of a surface low over the Southern Plains by Saturday. Unlike the recent clipper systems from Canada, this low will be able to tap moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and advect it northward into Arkansas and surrounding states, and then into the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes. Snow is likely by this weekend north of the Interstate 70 corridor, and a wintry mix south of there to roughly the Ohio River. Elsewhere, the impressive cold weather along the East Coast is forecast to improve markedly by the weekend with readings returning to near average by Friday and even slightly above average by Saturday. This will allow the snow cover and ice-covered waterways to thaw some. It will remain very cold over the Upper Midwest through the end of the week. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php