Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 247 PM EDT Sat Mar 14 2015 Valid 00Z Sun Mar 15 2015 - 00Z Tue Mar 17 2015 ***Heavy snow to impact northern New England*** ***Inclement weather to impact the Northwest*** ***Dry and very warm across the Central U.S.*** Much of the eastern U.S. will begin to dry out on Sunday as an area of high pressure over the Midwest moves east into the Ohio Valley, and this will help to drive a cold front well off the East Coast and down through the Gulf of Mexico. The exception though will be across especially northern New England as an area of low pressure redeveloping over the Gulf of Maine will couple with the passage of an upper level trough for an axis of heavy accumulating snowfall. The snow which will begin in earnest this evening, will continue overnight and through much of Sunday before gradually tapering off. Portions of central and eastern Maine may receive more than 1 foot of new snow before the low center pulls away and out to sea Sunday night. Colder air in the wake of this storm will infiltrate the rest of the Northeast through Monday. For the western U.S., a series of weak disturbances aloft and an area of low pressure approaching Oregon will equate to an axis of steady rains for the Pacific Northwest. Snow levels for most of the higher terrain early in the period will be too high to promote much in the way of accumulating snow, but that sufficient cold air should be in place for the northern Washington Cascades for locally heavy snowfall. On Monday, a cold front settling southward in response to Canadian high pressure nosing south into the northern High Plains will help foster accumulating snow across Montana and especially back into the Bitterroots where the heaviest totals can be expected. The rest of the nation will generally see tranquil weather, except for southern areas of Texas and the lower Rio Grande Valley where proximity to an upper trough will foster some shower activity. However, one of the main stories for the end of the weekend and start of the new week will be the very warm and dry weather which will extend from the Desert Southwest east all the way out into the central Plains. Portions of the central Plains will see high temperatures on Sunday and Monday as much as 25 to 35 degrees above normal for this time of the year, and this may result in record-breaking high temperatures for some locations. Orrison Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php