Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 252 PM EST Tue Jan 09 2018 Valid 00Z Wed Jan 10 2018 - 00Z Fri Jan 12 2018 ...High risk of flash flooding over portions of California in areas of burn scars... ...A wintry mix possible Wednesday morning for portions of the Upper Midwest and Ohio Valley and Wednesday night through Thursday for the Northeast... ...Milder conditions expected over most of the U.S... Heavy rain will begin to taper off across southern California by early Wednesday morning as a Pacific frontal system continues to track further inland. This system is crossing the Desert Southwest and is expected to exit into the Southern and Central Plains by late Wednesday/early Thursday. Rain and elevated snow will spread across the Southwest and Central/Southern Rockies as it passes through; with several inches of snow possible for portions of the Mongolian Rim and the Wasatch Range. The Intermountain West will also have snow, with heavier amounts at the highest elevations, over the next couple of days as a system from the Pacific Northwest tracks eastward and a clipper system moves through the Northern and Central Plains. A brief lull in regards to precipitation will occur on Thursday before another system approaches the Pacific Northwest Coast. The recent warm up observed portions of the central and eastern U.S. will be short-lived as another Arctic airmass begins to spill into High Plains by Thursday. Very cold temperatures spread eastward by the weekend. Prior to the return of cold air, a warm front lifting through the Upper Mississippi Valley and Upper Midwest today and on Wednesday will likely result in mixed precipitation as warm rain falls through a shallow layer of cold air from the vicinity of the Great Lakes to southeast Ohio. As the front shifts eastward so does the area of possible mixed precipitation- Wednesday night for southern portions of the Northeast and Thursday morning for New England. Any accumulations ice on roads, bridges or sidewalks could be hazardous. Campbell Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php