Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 247 PM EST Thu Dec 11 2014 Valid 00Z Fri Dec 12 2014 - 00Z Sun Dec 14 2014 ***Strong Pacific storm system affecting West Coast*** ***Lingering rain and snow showers for the Northeast U.S.*** ***Relatively quiet weather elsewhere*** The big story in the weather department for the end of the week is the strong Pacific low pressure system along the West Coast. Heavy rainfall, blizzard conditions in the mountains, and strong winds will hammer the state of California through Friday as an atmospheric river of moisture from the tropics accompanies the cold front. A swath of heavy rainfall with amounts of 2 to 4 inches by Friday night is likely, with the greatest amounts expected for central and northern parts of California. This is badly needed rainfall for a region suffering from extreme drought. Some of this moisture is expected to make it to the Intermountain West in the form of rain showers and mountain snow showers. A slow moving upper level low over New England is keeping the weather cold and unsettled from Pennsylvania to Maine, with periods of snow showers expected to continue through Friday night. The greatest snowfall amounts are expected over western New York and western Pennsylvania, where a couple additional inches of snow is a good possibility. A blocking high pressure ridge over the Atlantic Ocean is keeping this system from being progressive and moving out. Conditions should gradually improve as we head into the weekend and the upper level low weakens. The nor'easter that had affected the Northeast has now weakened and moved out to eastern Canada. Elsewhere across the continental U.S., the overall weather pattern should be rather uneventful with a high pressure ridge over much of the central and eastern U.S. through the end of the week. No major arctic intrusions are forecast, and southerly flow on the backside of the surface high located over the Mississippi River Valley should allow temperatures to be above normal for most of the Great Plains states. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php