Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 426 AM EDT Fri Mar 21 2014 Valid 12Z Fri Mar 21 2014 - 12Z Sun Mar 23 2014 ...Snows expected from the upper Midwest to the Northeast... ...Below normal temperatures returning to the Great Plains and Midwest... An area of low pressure centered over the Dakotas this morning is expected to track steadily to the east, moving across the upper Mississippi valley into the upper Great Lakes region by this evening. From there this system is expected to track across the lower Great Lakes region and the Northeast on Saturday, reaching the northern New England coast by Saturday evening. Light to moderate precipitation, falling mainly in the form of snow, is expected to spread out ahead of the low. Friday evening into early Saturday, expect mainly scattered showers and thunderstorms along the low's trailing cold front as it dips south through the southern plains and pushes south and east from the Ohio and Tennessee valleys into the mid Atlantic states and the Southeast. Some showers and storms may develop behind the front on Saturday across the lower Mississippi into the Tennessee valleys as moisture is drawn back to the north ahead of a weak system moving across the southern plains. In addition to the prospects for precipitation, much colder air will begin to filter south and east across the central and eastern U.S. Following a period of springlike temperatures earlier this week, below normal temperatures will return to much of the northern and central plains, as well as the upper Midwest by Saturday as another arctic high settles out of Canada into the northern plains. Along the southwestern edge of the high, upslope winds will encourage snows across the northern and central Rockies. With the exception of Washington, where some mainly scattered, light precipitation is expected to accompany the arrival of a weakening frontal system on Saturday, warm and dry conditions will persist across most areas west of the Continental Divide. Pereira Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php