Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 254 PM EST Mon Dec 19 2016 Valid 00Z Tue Dec 20 2016 - 00Z Thu Dec 22 2016 ...Heavy rain for parts of the Pacific Northwest... ...Heavy snow for the Cascades... ...Snow from parts of the Northern Plains to the Upper Great Lakes... ...Rain/Freezing rain possible for parts of the Northern Intermountain Region... A front moving onshore over the Pacific Northwest will move to the Northern/Central Plains by Wednesday. The strong cold front that was responsible for all of the storminess and gusty winds over the eastern U.S. has now cleared the East Coast. However, the southern flank of this front will slowly advance southward across the Florida peninsula through Tuesday. Some lingering rain is expected across the southeastern U.S. on Monday behind the front, followed by drier and much cooler conditions by midweek. An expansive high pressure area is large and in charge across much of the central and eastern U.S. through Wednesday behind the cold front. Sunny to partly cloudy skies will be commonplace, except for some lake effect snow showers downwind of the Great Lakes. Although temperatures are moderating some across the Plains, bitterly cold conditions are expected on Monday across much of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region. Below normal temperatures are also anticipated for much of the southern U.S. An approaching Pacific low pressure system will produce another round of rain and mountain snow to the Pacific Northwest for the beginning of the work week. Some freezing rain may be possible for interior valleys where a shallow layer of sub-freezing temperatures exist. This low will then track inland across the northern Rockies and bring accumulating snow to this region by Tuesday. Ziegenfelder Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php