Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 344 AM EST Fri Feb 06 2015 Valid 12Z Fri Feb 06 2015 - 12Z Sun Feb 08 2015 ...Heavy rains expected for much of the West Coast... Widespread heavy rains are expected for much of the West Coast the next few days as a persistent ribbon of Pacific moisture streams onshore and pieces of energy ripple through the flow aloft. Enough moisture should reach inland to also fuel precipitation across the northern Rockies. The highest totals will be along the upslope side of the terrain...especially over the Sierra Nevada and coastal ranges of northern California. The soaking rains will be beneficial to the drought stricken Western U.S.; However...so much rain so quickly will increase the threat for flash flooding. Above normal temperatures in the West should keep any snow accumulations confined to the highest elevations. Weather across the rest of the Nation should remain relatively quiet late this week and heading into the weekend. An axis of snow will set up to the north of a frontal boundary stretched over the Upper Midwest...Great Lakes...and New England. A lack of moisture across the northern tier will keep accumulations light...but warm air moving in aloft could cause a narrow zone of freezing rain or sleet to the south of the snow. In the middle of the Nation...an upper ridge sliding in over the central U.S. will keep conditions unseasonable warm across much of the Great Plains states. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php