Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 238 PM EST Wed Mar 04 2015 Valid 00Z Thu Mar 05 2015 - 00Z Sat Mar 07 2015 ...Heavy rain will transition to heavy snow for places from the southern Plains to the Mid-Atlantic... ...Moderate to significant icing possible from portions of the southern Plains to the Southeast... ...Temperatures dip well below seasonable normal across the central and eastern U.S. by the end of the work week... A rather vigorous and elongated piece of energy in the mid to upper levels, moving from the Plains to the Mid-Atlantic today and tomorrow, will interact with an arctic air mass and surface cold front plunging south and eastward into the Southeastern states this evening. A widespread area of precipitation on the backside of the boundary will continue for places from the southern/central Plains to the Northeast U.S., ending by tomorrow afternoon from the northwest to the southeast. Initially, moderate to heavy rain will be the primary precipitation type from the southern Plains to the Mid-Atlantic, and combined with snow melt, could result in flood or flash flooding issues, especially across the lower Ohio Valley and western Mid-Atlantic regions. As cold air filters in overnight tonight, the heavy rain will transition to sleet or freezing rain from central/south Texas to the lower Mississippi Valley into the Southeast and from rain to sleet/freezing rain to heavy snow from the mid-Mississippi Valley to the Mid-Atlantic. Moderate to significant sleet and freezing rain could be possible across the southern states, while significant snowfall between 6 and 12 inches is possible from the Tennessee Valley to the central Mid-Atlantic on Thursday. Refer to the suite of products from the WPC winter weather desk for more detailed information. Behind the front, winter hangs on tight as temperatures plummet across the eastern third of the nation. By Thursday evening, cold high pressure dominates resulting in unseasonably cold temperatures from the Plains to the eastern seaboard. Temperature values the remainder of the work week could be anywhere from 10 to 35 degrees below normal! Santorelli Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php