Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 400 PM EST Fri Feb 14 2014 Valid 00Z Sat Feb 15 2014 - 00Z Mon Feb 17 2014 ...A rapidly intensifying low pressure system is expected to impact eastern New England with heavy snow on Sunday... ...Active and unsettled weather continues to impact the Pacific Northwest...northern California...and into the northern Rockies... Just as residents in the eastern U.S. begin to dig out from the major winter storm that is beginning to move away from Maine, another low pressure system is taking shape in the mid-section of the country. This clipper-type low, which formed yesterday in southern Alberta, is expected to ride quickly eastward and intensify under an upper-level shortwave. A quick burst of precipitation can be expected as it moves across the Tennessee Valley into the central Appalachians tonight. Temperatures will be warm enough for rain to fall in the southern part of the system while snow is expected farther north. The dynamics of the system could result in brief periods of fairly heavy precipitation in its path. By Saturday, the system will move off the mid-Atlantic coast and is expected to rapidly intensify just offshore over the warm Gulf Stream. Snow should then pick up in intensify in New England Saturday night as the storm continues to intensify and turns northeastward. By Sunday morning, heavy snow could impact eastern Maine as the storm becomes very intense while making landfall in Nova Scotia, Canada. Meanwhile, upper-level disturbances coming from the Pacific continue to push onshore into the Pacific Northwest. Active and unsettled weather is foreseen across the Pacific Northwest, northern California, Intermountain West, and into the northern Rockies through the short-range forecast period. Widespread high-elevation snow and coastal rain will be the rule through the weekend. The coastal rain could become heavy on Saturday as the main moisture from a cold front approaches the coast. In the mean time, the Desert Southwest and the Deep South should continue to be dry through the weekend. Kong Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php