Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 259 AM EST Tue Feb 18 2014 Valid 12Z Tue Feb 18 2014 - 12Z Thu Feb 20 2014 ***Warming trend for areas east of the Rockies this week*** ***Rain and mountain snow continues for the Pacific Northwest*** A zonal flow pattern across the continental U.S. will allow for a quick progression of weak weather disturbances across the nation for the middle of the work week. The bitterly cold weather that has plagued much of the northern U.S. has retreated northward into Canada with more seasonal conditions expected over the next few days. Temperatures are expected to warm to above average levels for late February from the Central Plains to the East Coast as upper level ridging develops and the main storm track stays to the north. Southern Texas and the Florida peninsula are expected to be the warmest nationwide with highs expected well into the 80s. Out West, sustained moisture flow and frontal passages from the Pacific are expected to keep conditions unsettled across the Northwest and the Northern Rockies with widespread light to moderate precipitation through Wednesday. Most of the precipitation should be in the form of rain near the coast and significant snowfall for the higher elevations. The Cascades and parts of the Northern Rockies may receive over a foot of snow over the next few days. Elsewhere, a surface low is forecast to develop over the Central Plains by Wednesday night with showers and thunderstorms likely from Central Texas to Missouri as Gulf moisture gets advected northward. Warmer and increasingly more humid conditions are expected over the Deep South and into Texas ahead of this system. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php