Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 346 PM EST Mon Feb 10 2014 Valid 00Z Tue Feb 11 2014 - 00Z Thu Feb 13 2014 ...A major winter storm will affect the Lower Mississippi Valley and southeastern U.S. through mid-week... ...More heavy rain/snow expected across the Pacific Northwest... The second week of February will be quite active with another round of wintry precipitation forecast across the southern tier of the country this week. A frontal boundary sinking southward into the northern Gulf of Mexico will allow northerly flow to persist along the Gulf Coast. This will ultimately draw cool Canadian air from the dome of high pressure to the north which should bring readings to near the freezing mark. With the sub-freezing air in place, a series of mid-level impulses will cross overhead resulting in precipitation which should spread from west to east across the Deep South. What will complicate matters is a tongue of warmer air just above the surface layer should lead to a mixture of freezing rain and sleet. This region of mixed wintry precipitation will focus along the rain/snow line with fairly extensive ice accumulations being forecast by the WPC winter weather desk. Through Wednesday evening, the current forecast depicts anywhere from 2 to 6 inches of snow from northern Mississippi eastward into much of North Carolina. A localized heavier axis is possible along upslope regions of the Southern Appalachians. Additionally, bounding this area of snow to the south will be sufficiently high ice accumulations extending from northern Louisiana through central portions of the southern states into the southeastern U.S. coast. The current maxima is expected from eastern Georgia into central South Carolina with 0.50 to 0.75 inches of ice possible. Of course any measurable ice will make travel hazardous. For the latest information on this winter storm, please visit your local forecast office at www.weather.gov. The other major weather maker during this period will be the unsettled conditions across the Pacific Northwest and into the Upper Intermountain West. The flow aloft will be zonal which will carry a series of disturbances toward the western U.S. Onshore flow directed perpendicular to the local terrain will aid in moderate to heavy orographic precipitation, much in the form of snow. During the next couple of days, expect 1 to 2 feet of snowfall accumulations across the Washington Cascades, Bitterroots, Sawtooth, and Tetons. Unlike previous systems affecting the western states, the snow levels will be much higher which will keep coastal locations as rain. Elsewhere, a progressive system swinging through the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest will carry a swath of snow along the associated cold front. As much of the gulf moisture should be directed at the system across the southern U.S., general snowfall amounts should be light with only 2 to 4 inches expected with isolated heavier amounts. Rubin-Oster Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php