Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 259 AM EST Tue Jan 05 2016 Valid 12Z Tue Jan 05 2016 - 12Z Thu Jan 07 2016 ...Heavy snow possible for the Sierras... ...Heavy rain possible for coastal California... ...Snow possible for parts of the Upper Great Lakes and Upper Mississippi Valley... Multiple burst of upper-level energy will move into the West Coast through Wednesday evening. Coastal rain and higher elevation snow will develop along the West Coast through Tuesday evening then a brief pause as the first system clears the area. By Wednesday morning, the second system will move onshore bringing more coastal rain and higher elevation snow to the West Coast through Wednesday evening. The precipitation will break up over parts of the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday afternoon into evening. Meanwhile, rain and higher elevation snow will develop over parts of the Great Basin/Southwest into parts of the Central/Southern Rockies by Tuesday morning. The precipitation will wane slightly by Tuesday afternoon into evening before the first system over the West Coast moves inland over the area. On Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning more rain and higher elevation snow will develop over the Southwest northward to parts of the Northern Intermountain Region. The rain and snow will taper off slightly over the area as the rain and higher elevation snow rotates into parts of the Central/Southern Rockies by Wednesday evening. As the bundles of energy from the West Coast move out onto the Plains, moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will stream northward over the Plains into the Upper Mississippi Valley/Upper Great Lakes by Wednesday evening. Rain will begin to develop over the Southern High Plains by Tuesday evening, moving to the Southern/Central Plains by Wednesday morning. The rain will continue to develop over the Southern Plains into the Middle Mississippi Valley by Wednesday evening, with the heaviest rain over the Southern Plains. On Wednesday morning, snow will begin to develop over parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley/Upper Great Lakes and steadily fill in over the day on Wednesday into Wednesday evening. Elsewhere, developing upper-level energy over Florida and onshore easterly flow off the Atlantic will aid in the development of rain over the East Coast of Florida and the Southeast Coast through Wednesday. Ziegenfelder Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php