Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 140 PM EST Thu Jan 25 2018 Valid 00Z Fri Jan 26 2018 - 00Z Sun Jan 28 2018 ...A series of storms system arriving in off the Pacific Ocean will keep much of the West unsettled with more rain and snow... ...Showers and thunderstorms to arrive across the Gulf Coast states and Southeast this weekend... ...Milder temperatures arriving across the East as colder air dives down across the Upper Midwest... High pressure initially focused along the Eastern Seaboard will gradually advance east and offshore by this weekend which will allow for warmer southerly winds to return across the Eastern U.S. out ahead of a cold front dropping southeast across the Midwest. Afternoon high temperatures will largely be above average for late January with temperatures ranging from the 40s across southern portions of the Northeast, 50s to low 60s over the Mid-Atlantic, and into the 60s over the Southeast. Florida will be the warmest with temperatures well into the 70s. Much of the central and eastern U.S. will be dry through the end of week, however by Saturday and Sunday, the aforementioned cold front will gradually be crossing the Gulf Coast states and aiming for the Southeast which will bring a substantial increase in clouds and a good threat of showers and thunderstorms which will be capable of producing locally heavy rainfall. In behind the cold front settling southeast across the Midwest and Plains, temperatures will turn much colder and trending to near or below normal. The coldest temperatures will be across the Upper Midwest where high temperatures by Sunday will be in the teens to near 20 degrees. Precipitation chances will mainly be confined to areas of the lower and middle Mississippi Valley and through the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes in association with the passage of the cold front where a broken axis of rain showers are expected. A majority of the West Coast, Great Basin and Intermountain region will remain in a wet pattern as the current storm system that is moving inland and bringing widespread rain and snow is expected to be replaced by another storm system by later Friday night and Saturday with a focused impact on the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies. This will bring colder temperatures and a renewed surge of Pacific moisture for heavy rains over the coastal ranges and significant snowfall for the higher elevations, including the Cascades and favored terrain of the northern Rockies including the Sawtooth, Bitterroots and Tetons. Additional snowfall accumulations going through the weekend will be on the order of 1 to 3 feet locally, with the heaviest amounts expected over the Washington Cascades. Orrison Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php