Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 342 AM EDT Thu Mar 24 2016 Valid 12Z Thu Mar 24 2016 - 12Z Sat Mar 26 2016 ...Late season winter storm continues to bring heavy snow and freezing rain from the Central Plains to the Upper Great Lakes... ...Heavy rain and severe weather possible across the southern tier states... ...Another round of rain and higher elevation snow will impact much of the Northwest U.S. the rest of the week... A robust winter storm system tracking through the central U.S brought significant snowfall to portions of the Central Rockies and the surrounding plains yesterday, with strong to severe thunderstorms spanning from the Southern Plains to the Midwest. The system will continue to track north and east over the next couple of days. Much of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region will be impacted with snow and winds today. Numerous Winter Weather Advisories and Winter Storm Warnings are in effect from Nebraska to Maine. Lower Michigan is forecast to have some of the highest sow accumulations with 6 to 12 inches possible. Elsewhere, 2 to 6 inches is possible. Locally higher amounts are possible, especially across portions of the Upper Great Lakes. Just south of the cold front a band of freezing rain is expected to set up, which may bring up to three quarters of an inch of ice to places from central/northern lower Michigan to north of Lake Erie. Snow and freezing rain will also spread into the lower Great Lakes and New England, however the heavier accumulations should stay north of the border in Canada. And for the warm sector, heavy rain and thunderstorms is expected for much of the Mississippi Valley, the Ohio Valley, and the Deep South today. The Storm Prediction Center has highlighted portions of the Lower/Middle Mississippi Valley and Tennessee Valley as having favorable conditions for a slight risk of severe weather today. By Friday, rain will move into the Eastern States, and while most of the activity should be more showery in nature, a few rumbles of thunder cannot be ruled out. Valley rain and higher elevation snow will continue across the Northwest and Intermountain West as another Pacific system moves through. The highest precipitation should remain confined to favorable upslope regions of the highest terrain, primarily along the Northern and Central Rocky ranges. Seasonably warm temperatures are forecast for the East Coast today, where afternoon temperatures may climb 5 to 15 degrees above normal. Campbell Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php