Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 454 PM EDT Mon Mar 31 2014 Valid 00Z Tue Apr 1 2014 - 00Z Thu Apr 3 2014 ***Blizzard over the Northern Plains through Monday night*** ***Rain and snow showers over the western states*** ***Pleasant spring-like conditions over the Southeast U.S.*** The big story making weather headlines through Tuesday morning will be the ongoing blizzard across the Dakotas and into northern Minnesota. A relatively strong surface low is tracking across the Upper Midwest and a strong pressure gradient has developed to the north and west of that low, creating strong winds and significant snow. This is expected to persist into early Tuesday when the system and its bad weather slowly exits into Ontario. Blizzard and winter storm warnings are currently in effect for these areas. Out West, scattered rain and higher elevation snow showers remain in the short term forecast. A cold front moving onshore in California is forecast to track slowly eastward, and an upper level low is expected to follow behind it. This second system will create an unstable environment with showers and a few thunderstorms from Washington state to California. Heavy snow in the highest elevations is a good possibility. After cold and rainy conditions for much of the Eastern U.S., the welcomed return of warmer spring-like temperatures will be enjoyed by many from the Deep South to the Mid-Atlantic through the middle of the work week. Southwesterly flow around a surface high near the Florida coast will advect warmer air northward into the region south of a stationary front. This front is expected to be oriented from Oklahoma to southern Pennsylvania, and chilly weather is expected to continue north of this boundary, which will be under the influence of a surface high from Canada. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php