Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 258 PM EST Tue Mar 01 2016 Valid 00Z Wed Mar 02 2016 - 00Z Fri Mar 04 2016 ...Slight risk of severe thunderstorms over parts of the Lower Mississippi Valley to the Southeast... ...Heavy rain for parts of the Pacific Northwest Coast... ...Heavy snow over the Northern Cascades... ...Snow from the lower Great Lakes to Northern New England... A winter storm will bring precipitation to parts of the lower Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and New England as it tracks north and east through midweek. The central low pressure with this system is expected to be over New England by early Wednesday morning and over Labrador by Wednesday evening. Rain will turn over to snow for portions of the Middle Mississippi Valley eastward to the Great Lakes/Western Ohio Valley by this evening. Showers and thunderstorms will develop along and ahead of the associated front over the South, eastern Gulf Coast and southern Mid-Atlantic region. A Pacific front passing through the Northwest and Intermountain West this afternoon will cross the Northern Rockies by Wednesday morning -- spilling south and east through the Central/Southern Plains Wednesday afternoon through Thursday. The system will produce rain and higher elevation snow over the Pacific Northwest and parts of the Northern Intermountain Region/Northern Rockies today. Snow and lower elevation rain will expand into parts of the Northern High Plain/Central Rockies by tonight as rain moves onshore over Northern California. Rain and snow will persist from the Pacific Northwest to the Central Rockies through Wednesday morning. Another round of rain and snow will begin Wednesday evening as a cold front approaches from the Pacific. Snow will spread to the east at higher elevations as the front pushes inland. Campbell Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php