Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 300 PM EST Sun Feb 02 2014 Valid 00Z Mon Feb 03 2014 - 00Z Wed Feb 05 2014 ...Heavy rain possible from the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Mid-Atlantic with accumulating snow possible to the north... ...Pockets of snow or sleet/freezing rain could develop across the Southern Plains/Lower Mississippi Valley this evening and again on Tuesday... ...Light and scattered precipitation will move across the Intermountain West/Rockies as well as Central/Northern California... Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico continues to stream northward due to a very slow moving surface front stretching across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Heavy rain will spread from the Lower Mississippi Valley and Tennessee and Ohio Valleys this evening to the Mid-Atlantic region tomorrow. On the northern edge of the precipitation, some light snow, sleet, or freezing rain could be possible from the Southern Plains to the Northeast. Little to no accumulation of snow is expected on Sunday, but precipitation intensity should increase by Monday morning and the heavier accumulating snow is forecast to develop for parts of the Central Appalachians and Northern Mid-Atlantic States. For more details on the snow, please refer to the products issued by the WPC Winter Weather Desk. By late Monday afternoon, most of the precipitation should have moved into the Atlantic with only a few lingering light snow or rain showers hanging around by the nighttime hours along the coast. Behind the front across the Central/Southern Plains and Midwest, temperatures are expected to be as much as 15 to 25 degrees below average for this time of the year. Meanwhile, vigorous upper-level energy will move down the California coastline and across the Southwestern U.S. tonight and tomorrow. The light rain showers should come to an end by Monday morning across California, but some very light snow showers could develop over the Southern Rockies on Monday as the energy moves overhead. By Tuesday morning, this system moves into Southern Plains and is forecast to tap into Gulf of Mexico moisture increasing the chances for more rain across the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley on Tuesday. In the Northwest, very light and scattered snow showers will move across the Pacific Northwest and into the Intermountain West on Monday. Chances for snow increases Monday evening and Tuesday across the Northern Rockies and Central Plains as this wave of upper level energy becomes absorbed by the system farther south in the Southern Plains. Monarski Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php