Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 336 AM EDT Fri Oct 27 2017 Valid 12Z Fri Oct 27 2017 - 12Z Sun Oct 29 2017 ...The first significant winter storm of the season will impact the Upper Midwest along with strong winds... ...Temperatures dropping below normal across the Great Plains for Friday while spreading east of the Mississippi for the weekend.... ...Dry conditions with above normal temperatures to continue across the western U.S.... Much of Minnesota and portions of northwest Wisconsin have Winter Weather Advisories and Winter Storm Warnings in effect for the first snow producing system of this season. A low pressure system will slowly track northeast through the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region. Accumulations will be light to locally moderate today - with the highest amounts expected across the Arrowhead region. A 3-day accumulation of 8 to 12 inches will be possible for far northeast Minnesota. Strong winds will likely cause blowing and drifting of the snow; which will make travel hazardous. A secondary max of locally heavy snow is expected from the western U.P. of Michigan into northern Wisconsin to the northwest of the surface low through Saturday morning as lake enhanced snow sets up downwind of lake Superior. The cold front extending from the low center over the Upper Midwest will pass through the Ohio/Tennessee/Mississippi Valleys this weekend. Showers and thunderstorms will generate along and ahead of this front. Noticeably colder air will be infiltrating the central U.S. and lead temperatures to fall 10 to 20 degrees below normal for late October. For the East, temperatures will rebound back to 5 to 15 degrees above average from the upper Ohio valley today and into the Northeast for Saturday. Across the Southeast, showers and thunderstorms may become more numerous across Florida as a broad area of low pressure over the western Caribbean becomes better organized and begins to drift north early Saturday. Refer to NHC outlooks for further information on this system. Across the West, most areas will remain warm and dry as ridging stays anchored this weekend. Portions of California, Oregon and Nevada will have high temperatures range from +10 to +20 degrees through the weekend. Campbell Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php