Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 255 AM EST Sat Dec 30 2017 Valid 12Z Sat Dec 30 2017 - 12Z Mon Jan 01 2018 ...Reinforcing shot of arctic air could bring record low temperatures to parts of the Midwest and the East Coast on New Year's Day... ...Moderate to heavy lake effect snows will continue downwind of the Great Lakes... ...Heavy snowfall over the higher terrain of the Northwest should taper off tonight... The bitter cold weather will continue to be the story across much of the U.S. through this weekend as a strong high pressure system is bringing a reinforcing shot of arctic air from central Canada. This high pressure system, with a central pressure forecast to be above 1050 mb, will spread cold and dense arctic air down across the Plains, and eastward through the East Coast during the next few days, sending actual temperatures down to around zero degrees as far south as the northern border of Oklahoma on New Year's Day, and into the -30s near the Canadian border on Sunday and New Year's Day. In fact, daily record low temperatures are possible in the Midwest and parts of the East Coast on New Year's Day. Meanwhile, a clipper low pressure system developing on the leading edge of the arctic air will bring a period of light snow today from the Ohio Valley across the Appalachians, and into the northern Mid-Atlantic before reaching southern New England this afternoon and evening. Across the Great Lakes, westerly flow on the backside of this system will allow for moderate to heavy lake-effect snows to continue downwind of the lakes with localized totals of 6 to 12+ inches possible. A developing wave of low pressure in the western Gulf of Mexico will bring light rain across eastern Texas today, spreading eastward into the central Gulf states on Sunday, and into Florida by New Year's Day. Some mixed precipitation or freezing rain will also be possible on the northern edge of the moisture shield from northern Texas to central Mississippi and Alabama, as temperatures are forecast to drop toward the freezing mark near the central Gulf coast on New Year's Day. Out west, heavy snowfall will continue for a while early today across the northern Intermountain West into the northern High Plains as Pacific moisture aloft overruns the cold and dense arctic air at the surface. The snow is expected to taper off tonight as the strong arctic high from Canada settles into the region while coastal rain in the Pacific Northwest ends. Elsewhere, much of the rest of the western U.S. should remain dry with milder than normal temperatures as we head into the new year. Kong Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php