Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 338 PM EDT Wed Apr 16 2014 Valid 00Z Thu Apr 17 2014 - 00Z Sat Apr 19 2014 ...Snow will impact the Upper Midwest and Upper Peninsula of Michigan... ...Rain and snow showers continue across the Intermountain West... ...Rain and thunderstorms likely across the Gulf Coast states... A system moving across the Middle Mississippi Valley this afternoon will lift into the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes by tonight. Light to moderate snow on the northern side of the surface low will continue to impact places in the Upper Midwest and into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan tonight and Thursday morning, but should diminish to only light snow showers as the surface low weakens and moves into Southeast Canada tomorrow afternoon. Out west, another system moving onshore off the Pacific will continue to bring rain and snow to the Northwest corner of the nation the remainder of the work week. Precipitation should remain relatively light and scattered except across favorable higher terrain as well as coastal regions of Washington as onshore flow aids in more organized rain. Elsewhere, easterly flow off the Atlantic will continue to aid in producing mainly scattered showers and thunderstorms across much of Florida, while southerly flow into Texas may favor a few scattered rain showers to parts of the Southern Plains. By Thursday night however, a surface low is expected to develop in the central Gulf of Mexico which is forecast to bring another round of heavy rain and thunderstorms to the eastern Gulf Coast by Friday. In the Northeast, unseasonably cool temperatures remain in place as high pressure parks itself overhead. Monarski Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php