Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 326 AM EDT Tue Mar 14 2017 Valid 12Z Tue Mar 14 2017 - 12Z Thu Mar 16 2017 ...Major winter storm will affect the East Coast... It continues feeling like winter across much of the country, despite it being mid-March. A large surface high pressure ridge sinking southward from Canada to the central U.S. will keep the January-like temperatures around through the middle of the work week. Afternoon highs are expected to be on the order of 15 to 30 degrees below normal from the northern Plains to the Mid-Atlantic region, with the possibility of some record low maximum temperatures in the Mid Atlantic and Northeast by midweek. Numerous freeze warnings are currently in effect for much of the Mid Mississippi Valley and extending eastward to Kentucky and Tennessee. The big thing making weather headlines through Wednesday morning will be the rapidly intensifying nor'easter that is currently near the Mid-Atlantic coast. A major winter storm is unfolding across interior portions of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S. Winter storm warnings are in effect from eastern West Virginia to Maine, and blizzard warnings from eastern Pennsylvania to southwest Maine. Snowfall amounts in excess of a foot are likely inland along with strong and gusty winds. High winds and tidal flooding are going to be an issue for coastal areas north of the Outer Banks. Conditions should improve for most areas by Wednesday afternoon once the storm departs the region. Elsewhere across the continental U.S., expect warm conditions to continue across the southwestern U.S. with no rain or snow in the forecast. The lower elevations of the Desert Southwest could even reach the lower 90s for highs over the next few days with an upper level ridge in place. Onshore flow across the Pacific Northwest will keep scattered showers around, with snow in the Cascades and northern Rockies. D. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php