Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 256 AM EST Fri Jan 12 2018 Valid 12Z Fri Jan 12 2018 - 12Z Sun Jan 14 2018 ...Snow/freezing rain from the Tennessee and Ohio valleys into interior sections of the Northeast today into Saturday... ...Flooding possible in the Northeast due to heavy rain and melting ice on area rivers... ...An end to the brief January thaw sweeps east for this weekend... A strong cold front, located between the Mississippi River and the Appalachians this morning, will continue to sweep east today and eventually clear the entire East Coast by Saturday afternoon. Although it will be cloudy, today's high temperatures ahead of the boundary will be in the 50s for much of New England and lower 70s for portions of the Mid-Atlantic states. The warm temperatures combined with rain may cause flooding over snow covered surfaces and near partially frozen rivers from the central Appalachians into sections of New England. A sharp transition to colder temperatures is expected behind the cold front with 24 hour temperature drops of 20 to 40 degrees expected, greatest across northern locations. The transition to colder temperatures will be co-located with rain, changing to freezing rain, sleet and eventually snow for many from the Tennessee and Ohio valleys into interior sections of the Mid-Atlantic region and Northeast today and tonight. It appears locations along and west of I-95 will likely see some sort of frozen precipitation from this storm system between Wilmington, DE to Boston, MA. The heaviest snow is expected from northwestern Pennsylvania into far northern New York where upwards of a foot of new snow is expected by Saturday morning. The northern Plains will see another day with highs near or below zero with the anomalous cold stretching down to the central Gulf coast. Forecast highs will be in the 40s for southern Louisiana today through the weekend, or roughly 10 to 20 degrees below average. Light to locally moderate snowfall is anticipated along the higher terrain from the Washington Cascades into the northern and central Rockies tied to a weakening Pacific storm system and resulting upslope flow through Saturday morning. Rain will stay in the forecast for the Pacific Northwest but will be confined to mostly coastal Washington tonight into Saturday with clearing expected on Sunday as upper level ridging builds over the western U.S. Otto Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php