Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 248 AM EST Wed Jan 17 2018 Valid 12Z Wed Jan 17 2018 - 12Z Fri Jan 19 2018 ...Light to moderate snow accumulations for portions of the Mid-Atlantic region and northern New England today... ...Below average temperatures from the northern Mid-Atlantic into the South... ...Significant warm-up from the north-central U.S. into the central Plains... ...A return to wet/white across the western U.S... A strong cold front moving east into the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast early this morning will help set the stage for accumulating snow across south-central Virginia into central North Carolina, extending all the way to the coast. Rain will likely be the initial precipitation type along the eastern edges of the precipitation shield, but a transition to all snow is expected during the day today and tonight across coastal North Carolina. two to four inches of snow, locally higher, is expected for inland locations while one to two inches will be possible along coastal locations ending Thursday morning. To the north, coastal rain for the Northeast with inland snow will fall for much of the day today with the greatest potential for four or more inches of snow extending from central Massachusetts into eastern Maine before snow ends with the departing surface low tonight. As high pressure, currently over the South, moves east over the next one to two days, westerly to southwesterly flow will develop across the middle of the nation allowing for a significant warm-up. High temperatures will rise into the 30s and even lower 40s for the Dakotas today and Thursday. In fact, for Thursday, high temperatures are forecast to be a good 10 to 25 degrees above average across a sizable portion of the nation extending from the central/northern Plains into the western U.S. Across the western U.S., a return to a wet pattern is expected to close out the week along the coast with inland snow. Light rain ahead of a warm front will move into coastal Oregon and Washington early today, followed by heavier rain tonight tied to the system's cold front. Rain will transition to snow behind the cold front for the higher terrain with the heaviest accumulations in the northern Washington Cascades through Thursday morning. Otto Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php