Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 333 PM EST Fri Jan 15 2016 Valid 00Z Sat Jan 16 2016 - 00Z Mon Jan 18 2016 ...A Nor'easter is expected to clip the Mid-Atlantic coast tonight and New England coast on Saturday... ...A around of rain is expected to spread eastward along the Gulf coast on Saturday...reaching Florida on Sunday with gusty winds and possibility of strong thunderstorms... ...Unsettled weather continued across much of the western U.S. with periods of coastal rain and mountain snow through the weekend... The short-range forecast period will feature fast-moving and fast-developing weather systems especially in the eastern two-thirds of the country. A low pressure system currently bringing heavy rain and severe weather across the Southeast should continue to intensify and move off the Mid-Atlantic coast later tonight and skirt the southern New England coast on Saturday. Rain associated with the Nor'easter is expected to spread rapidly up the East Coast tonight, along with a period of gusty winds near the coast. As the moisture reaches New England tonight, temperatures will be cold enough to support wintry precipitation. Snow totals of 4 to 8 inches are forecast for central and northern New England with a band of mixed precipitation near the southern edge. An Alberta clipper is forecast to move across the Great Lakes tonight. Arctic air will usher into the country behind the system. This will promote more lake-effect snows throughout the weekend with more than a foot possible downwind of the lakes. Snow shower activities are expected to spread downstream across the Ohio Valley into the central Appalachians as well. Meanwhile, another low pressure system is expected to develop in the western Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, and then intensify and move rapidly eastward, spreading a round of rain along the Gulf coast. By Sunday morning, the low could become quite deep as it moves across Florida where gusty winds and strong thunderstorms are possible. Out West, with the exception of the Desert Southwest, unsettled weather will continue throughout the weekend as moisture from two more large-scale low pressure systems and fronts move onshore and penetrate well inland where periods of coastal rain and mountain snow can be expected. Elsewhere, cold air flowing in behind a low pressure center will bring a around of mixed precipitation tonight across the central Plains. The precipitation is expected to change to snow before ending on Saturday morning. Kong Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php