Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 228 PM EST Wed Feb 24 2016 Valid 00Z Thu Feb 25 2016 - 00Z Sat Feb 27 2016 ...Severe thunderstorms possible across portions of the Mid-Atlantic region tonight... ...Heavy rain possible across portions of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast tonight... ...Heavy snow possible across portions of the Ohio valley and Great Lakes... A strong and expansive low pressure system will bring a variety of significant weather to areas from the Midwest to the East Coast through Thursday. A surface low will move across the lower Great Lakes tonight and into Quebec on Thursday. A warm and unstable air mass, along with the strong wind field at the mid and upper-levels associated with this system, will result in the potential for severe thunderstorms across portions of the Mid-Atlantic region into tonight. Please refer to products issued by the Storm Prediction Center for further details on the severe weather threat. In addition to thunderstorms, heavy rainfall will also pose a threat, with some areas exceeding one inch of rainfall across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast -- resulting in possible flooding for some areas. In the cold air on the western side of this expansive storm system, snow will fall from portions of the Tennessee valley northward to the Great Lakes. Heavy snow will be possible from portions of the Ohio valley into portions of Michigan, where snowfall totals of 4 to 12 inches are forecast, with locally higher amounts. Additionally, strong wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph at times may result in blizzard conditions at times for portions of eastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana. These conditions will make travel extremely dangerous, if not impossible for the affected areas. Please refer to products issued by your local NWS Forecast Office for details specific to your area. Snow will begin to taper off from west to east by Thursday afternoon as the low pressure system moves away. Colder air will change rain to snow across the southern/central Appalachians as well tonight into Thursday morning, with 1 to 4 inches of snow expected. High pressure will keep the central and western U.S. predominantly dry through the next couple days. A weak surface frontal system will bring scattered snow showers to portions of the northern plains tonight. Temperatures will remain warm in the western U.S. with afternoon high temperatures on Thursday expected to be 10 to 20 degrees above average. By Friday, a Pacific cold front will approach the West Coast, spreading rain across the Pacific Northwest. Ryan Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php