Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 248 AM EDT Thu Oct 27 2016 Valid 12Z Thu Oct 27 2016 - 12Z Sat Oct 29 2016 ...Rain and mountain snow expected for the Northeast states... ...Unsettled weather for the West Coast states... A surface low pressure system tracking from the Ohio Valley to New England on Thursday is expected to bring deteriorating weather conditions to much of the Northeast U.S. to close out the work week. Shortwave energy aloft will allow for this low to intensify some as it approaches the coast on Friday morning. Many areas in interior New England and upstate New York will likely get their first accumulating snow of the season, mainly for elevations above 2000 feet. Several inches of snow is likely for the highest elevations. Windy and rainy conditions are expected near the New England coast as the low acquires characteristics of a nor'easter near Nova Scotia by Friday evening. Unsettled weather is also in the forecast for the West coast states with a persistent upper level trough offshore and a steady onshore flow with embedded disturbances. Much of California will be receiving badly needed rain over the next couple of days, including the southern half of the state. Some thunderstorms will also be possible. Snow is likely for the highest mountains of the Sierra Nevada, and also for the northern Rockies as the moisture plume moves farther inland over the Intermountain West. Elsewhere across the continental U.S., the overall weather pattern should be relatively quiet across the Plains and the Deep South with no major storm systems affecting the region and high pressure remaining in place. Temperatures across the central U.S. will be above normal. D. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_wbg.php