Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 339 AM EDT Fri Apr 07 2017 Valid 12Z Fri Apr 07 2017 - 12Z Sun Apr 09 2017 ...Heavy rain and mountain snow expected over portions of the western U.S. Friday and Saturday... ...Gusty winds along with rain and snow showers should begin to gradually diminish across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states... ...Temperatures will remain above normal beneath an upper ridge shifting from the Great Plains to the Mississippi Valley over the next few days... A deep surge of moisture ahead of a strong Pacific system entering the Western U.S. will continue to support heavy rain and mountain snow over the favored terrain of the Pacific Northwest and California early Friday...with multiple feet of snow expected along the higher peaks of the Sierra Nevada range. The deep surface low associated with the storm will lift northeastward towards Vancouver Island while the anomalous plume of moisture shifts southward through California Friday into Saturday. However...periods of heavy precipitation...including late season snowfall accumulations in the higher elevations...will still be possible as the system's cold front presses farther inland over the Western U.S. this weekend. The same storm that brought widespread severe weather to the eastern third of the Nation over the past few days is expected to lift through the Northeast on Friday. The greatest instability and any chance for severe weather will be well offshore...but strong winds surrounding the storm's surface low should help trigger rain and snow showers downwind of the Great Lakes and along the upslope side of the central and northern Appalachians. Activity should gradually diminish across the region as the surface low weakens and lifts towards Canada Friday night into Saturday. Also...below normal temperatures across much of the eastern U.S. on Friday should begin to moderate by the weekend. Elsewhere across the nation...above normal temperatures are expected beneath an upper ridge sliding eastward from the Great Plains to the Mississippi Valley Friday and Saturday...with daytime temperatures reaching 15 to 20 degrees above normal over portions of the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest. Gerhardt Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php