Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 228 AM EST Thu Feb 08 2018 Valid 12Z Thu Feb 08 2018 - 12Z Sat Feb 10 2018 ...Winter storm will spread from the Rockies into the Great Lakes region over the next few days... ...Warm temperatures expected for the western and eastern U.S... Higher elevation snow will continue along the northern Rockies today as a Arctic boundary drapes along the mountain range. As energy from the upper level low begins to push southward by Thursday evening, so will the boundary in addition to snow spreading into the Plains. By Friday, an intense band of snow will advance across parts of the Mississippi Valley and into the lower Great Lakes region--impacting areas like Chicago and Detroit. This band of snow will be brief and end by the end of the day; however, a significant amount of snow is expected. Meanwhile, higher elevation snow along the northern Rockies will begin to taper off by Friday evening. Lighter snow showers will also continue southward into Nebraska and Kansas. For more information about this event, please see WPC's winter weather products. As the Arctic cold front progresses southward into the southern Plains on Friday night and into Saturday morning, moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will stream northward. As a result, a wintry mix is possible particularly in northeast Oklahoma overnight Friday and into Saturday morning. Showers and thunderstorms can also be expected across the western and central Gulf Coast. The West will remain warm and dry through Saturday as high temperatures are expected to be 10 to 20 degrees above average. The Pacific Northwest will become near normal on Friday as light precipitation moves into the region on Friday. The East Coast and Southeast will also experience warm conditions on Friday and Saturday. In contrast, the Plains and Upper Midwest will be below average due to the Arctic airmass moving over the region through Saturday--with high temperatures as much as 30 degrees below average. Reinhart Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php