Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 344 AM EST Tue Jan 13 2015 Valid 12Z Tue Jan 13 2015 - 12Z Thu Jan 15 2015 ...Freezing rain expected for portions of the southern Mid-Atlantic states... ...Warming trend in store for the north-central U.S.... ...Moderate to heavy snow expected along the higher terrain of the Four Corners states... A fresh surge of Arctic air will continue to spread over the eastern U.S. on Tuesday...behind a cold front that pushed off the Atlantic coast Monday night. Conditions will clear out across the Northeast and northern Mid-Atlantic states as the northern portion of the boundary races out to sea; However...the southern portion of the front will linger offshore and cause continued unsettled weather across the Southeast and southern Mid-Atlantic region Tuesday and Wednesday. A surface low strengthening along the front will wrap Atlantic moisture inland over the fresh Arctic airmass...leading to periods of freezing rain across portions of the Carolinas and Virgina. Another bitter morning is in store for the north-central U.S. on Tuesday...but temperatures will gradually begin to rise across the region the next few days as strong Arctic high pressure shifts into the East and upper ridging in the Western U.S. slides eastward. Scattered shower activity will be possible with a surface low and cold front dropping through the Four Corners region on Tuesday. This system will not have a tremendous amount of moisture to work with...but orographic effects should help produce some moderate to heavy snowfall accumulations along the favored slopes of the terrain. Precipitation focusing along an inverted trough setting up in the Western Gulf could bring light rain showers into south Texas Tuesday and Wednesday. Also...light precipitation could move into the Pacific Northwest by the end of the forecast period. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php