Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 222 AM EST Sun Feb 12 2017 Valid 12Z Sun Feb 12 2017 - 12Z Tue Feb 14 2017 ...Major winter storm expected to hammer the Northeast U.S. and heavy rain is likely over parts of Texas and the southern Rockies... The surface low pressure system currently tracking eastward across the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic region is forecast to undergo rapid intensification by Sunday night and into Monday once it exits the New England coast. It will become a powerful nor'easter with blizzard conditions expected for parts of Maine as the winds become quite strong. Winter storm warnings are in effect from upstate New York to northern Maine, where snowfall amounts of 8 to 16 inches are likely with locally higher amounts. Coastal flooding could also be an issue for this region. Given the strong pressure gradient that is expected to develop in the wake of this storm, widespread windy conditions are expected as far west as the central Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic region, where high wind bulletins are already in effect for potential gusts in excess of 50 mph through Monday morning. Out West, rain and mountain snow will continue to fall across the Southwest as a cold front drops southward, and a deep upper level low moving across northern Mexico will keep conditions unsettled through Sunday and into Monday. Periods of rain, heavy at times, and scattered thunderstorms will develop ahead of the system across the lower elevations of the southwest, moving into the Four Corners region by Sunday. Heavy snowfall is forecast across the higher terrain of the central and southern Rockies. Precipitation should spread into Oklahoma and Texas by Monday, with an enhanced axis of heavy rain likely across west-central Texas where 1 to 3 inches of rain could fall. D. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php