Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 245 PM EST Sun Dec 03 2017 Valid 00Z Mon Dec 04 2017 - 00Z Wed Dec 06 2017 ...Possible blizzard conditions for the eastern Dakotas into northern Minnesota Monday/Monday night.. ...Extreme fire danger for portions of Southern California developing Monday... ...Big cool down coming from west to east on Monday and Tuesday... The storm system that will be responsible for most of the active weather across the lower 48 is currently located over the northwestern U.S. in the form of an upper level trough. At the surface, a strong cold front moving through the Great Basin Sunday afternoon with a mixture of rain and snow falling over portions of the northern Rocky Mountains, southward into the Great Basin. As the storm system reaches the Plains tonight, a surface low will begin to strengthen as it tracks toward the upper Mississippi valley. Heavy snow is expected tonight for the mountains of Wyoming with snow developing northwest of the surface low track into the Dakotas through late Monday morning. Winds will increase as the low becomes better organized with gusts of 30 to 50 mph expected from the eastern Dakotas into parts of Minnesota late Monday into Monday night. These winds when combined with falling snow may generate blizzard conditions with impacts to travel likely from the eastern Dakotas into northern Minnesota. Snowfall accumulations of 2 to 4 inches inches are expected across the region with increasing amounts into northern Minnesota where 6 to 12 inches are forecast before snow comes to an end Tuesday morning. As cold air rushes in behind this storm system's cold front, the combination of gusty strong winds and low relative humidities is expected to pose an environment highly favorable for the development of wildfires across portions of Southern California on Monday. This treat will be greatest from near Point Conception to San Diego. Scattered rain showers and thunderstorms are expected out ahead of the low center from the upper Great Lakes region down into the middle Mississippi valley, with a narrow line of showers/thunderstorms likely developing just ahead of the cold front across the South later on Monday into Monday night. High temperatures on Tuesday from the Great Lakes to Texas will drop 20-30 degrees compared to a relatively balmy Monday across these regions. The cold front will be less intense as it reaches the East Coat, but a large drop in temperatures is still expected compared to forecast highs on Monday. Otto Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php