Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 229 AM EST Mon Feb 24 2014 Valid 12Z Mon Feb 24 2014 - 12Z Wed Feb 26 2014 ...Showers and thunderstorms begin to develop along the Gulf Coast on Monday... ...Coastal rain and inland snow spreads across the Northwest and Northern Plains... ...Well below normal temperatures from the High Plains/Plains states to the Northeast... A cold front extending from the Western Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico will continue to push southward on Monday before becoming quasi-stationary across Central Florida and the Gulf by Tuesday morning. Easterly flow across the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Monday will aid in producing some scattered showers and thunderstorms across Southern and Eastern Texas and portions of the Western Gulf Coastline. By Tuesday however, winds begin to shift to a more southerly direction which should help transport the showers and storms farther inland to the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley. Across Central and Eastern Florida, a developing wave of low pressure keeps scattered showers and thunderstorms in the forecast through Tuesday morning. By Tuesday evening, this low pressure system begins to strengthen and move northward along the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic coast. The western half of the aforementioned boundary remains mostly stationary through the forecast period from the Southern/Central Rockies to the Pacific Northwest. Snow showers north of this front will continue across the Intermountain West and Northern Plains on Monday but should taper off across the Northern Plains and become confined to mainly the highest terrain of the Northern Rockies by Tuesday. Across the Pacific Northwest, coastal rain showers and highest elevation snows will also continue on Monday, but should become less numerous by Tuesday as upper level ridging begins to build over the region. Elsewhere, strong surface high pressure continues to usher the very cold, polar air from Northern Canada into the Central and Northeastern states through the beginning of the work week. Colder than normal temperatures are expected for these areas, but across the Northern High Plains/Plains and the Upper Midwest, readings could be as much as 20 to 40 degrees below normal for this time of the year! Monarski Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php