Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 229 AM EST Mon Feb 27 2017 Valid 12Z Mon Feb 27 2017 - 12Z Wed Mar 1 2017 ...More snow for the western U.S., and rain and thunderstorms return to the Gulf Coast and much of the southeastern U.S.... With the surface high pressure area now moving off the East Coast, expect a gradual warming trend along with increasing moisture going into the middle of the week for the eastern U.S. Return flow from the Gulf of Mexico ahead of the next storm system over Texas is advecting enough humidity northward to generate showers and scattered thunderstorms extending from Texas to the Deep South, and this will continue on Monday. More widespread showers and storms are likely to develop by Tuesday and going into Wednesday as the warm front continues lifting northward. Some locations could easily get in excess of an inch of rainfall by Tuesday morning, especially across parts of the lower Mississippi River valley. Severe thunderstorms will be possible on Tuesday from Arkansas to the Ohio Valley ahead of the developing storm system over the central Plains. Windy conditions are expected to develop over western Texas and eastern Mexico, where high wind watches are in effect. Snow will continue to be in the forecast for the mountains of the western U.S. for the first half of the work week. The Cascades, Sierra, Wasatch, and central/southern Rockies should see the greatest snowfall totals, with some locations getting in excess of a foot of additional snowfall. Rain is likely for the lower elevations of the Desert Southwest and the coastal Pacific Northwest. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php