Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 335 AM EDT Fri Mar 13 2015 Valid 12Z Fri Mar 13 2015 - 12Z Sun Mar 15 2015 ***Widespread rain from the Gulf Coast to the Mid-Atlantic*** ***Rain and high mountain snow return to the West*** Rain will become increasingly widespread on Friday across much of the Deep South and extending into the Ohio Valley, as moisture streams northward from the Gulf of Mexico ahead of a slow-moving cold front and surface low. This low is expected to merge with another cold front moving southeastward from the Great Lakes, and this will cause the rain to extend out to the East Coast by Friday night and into Saturday. A stronger surface low is expected to develop by the end of the forecast period near the New England coast, with significant snow possible for northern New England and Maine by Saturday night and early Sunday. Out West, the recent dry weather is forecast to transition to a wetter pattern by this weekend as a series of weak disturbances aloft and a surface cold front approach the West Coast. Rain is expected to arrive by Friday afternoon for western Washington and Oregon, and then reach the northern Rockies and Intermountain West by Saturday. Snow will be confined to the higher mountain locations, and most populated areas receiving rain. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php