Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 354 PM EST Thu Jan 22 2015 Valid 00Z Fri Jan 23 2015 - 00Z Sun Jan 25 2015 ...Inland snows and heavy coastal rains expected with a surface low tracking through the northern Gulf of Mexico and up the Eastern Seaboard... A surface low just off the Texas coast is expected to steadily track eastward across the northern Gulf of Mexico...before lifting towards the Eastern Seaboard late this week. Strong southerly flow ahead of the low will pull an abundance of Gulf moisture northward and fuel widespread precipitation across the Deep South on Friday. Heavy rains and thunderstorms will be possible for locations along the coast...while back beneath the upper energy supporting the surface low...conditions will be cold enough for snow across portions of New Mexico and west Texas. Precipitation will spread northward into the Mid-Atlantic states and southern New England as the low begins to lift up the Eastern Seaboard Friday night into Saturday. Heavy rains are again expected for coastal locations and a mix of snow and sleet will be possible farther inland within the northwestern edge of the precipitation shield. Elsewhere across the nation...a system dropping down from central Canada could cause a wintry mix of precipitation while it sweeps through the Upper Great Lakes late this week. A series of Pacific systems moving inland will keep conditions wet in the the extreme northwestern corner of the Nation; however the rest of the West will stay quiet beneath a sprawling surface high. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php