Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 251 PM EST Wed Feb 28 2018 Valid 00Z Thu Mar 1 2018 - 00Z Sat Mar 3 2018 ...Heavy rain for the South, coastal storm for New England, and heavy snow for the western U.S. mountains... A front extending from the Upper Great Lakes to the Southern Plains will move eastward to the Eastern Seaboard by Thursday evening. Showers and thunderstorms will develop along and ahead of the boundary from the Western Ohio Valley to the Southern Plains/Western Gulf Coast that will move eastward across the Tennessee Valley into the Southeast Coast by Thursday evening. The rain may be heavy at times with these storms. Rain will also develop over parts of the Ohio Valley into parts of the Southern Appalachians that will expand into parts of the Southern Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast by Wednesday evening. The rain also expands into the Northern Mid-Atlantic by late Wednesday evening. The rain will end over parts of the Northeast/Lower Great Lakes by Thursday morning before starting again by Thursday evening. In addition, snow will develop over parts of Northern New England by Wednesday evening, continuing through Thursday evening. Snow will also develop over parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley/Upper Great Lakes overnight Wednesday that will expand into parts of the Western Ohio Valley by Thursday evening. Meanwhile, strong upper-level energy will aid in producing snow and lower elevation rain over parts of the Southwest into parts of the Central/Southern Rockies by Wednesday morning. The snow will move out of the Southwest by Wednesday evening while expanding over the Central/Southern Rockies before ending overnight Wednesday. In the meantime, onshore flow ahead of the next Pacific system will aid in producing rain and higher elevation snow over parts of the Pacific Northwest and snow over parts of the Northern Rockies through Wednesday evening. Overnight Wednesday into Thursday evening, upper-level energy associated with the next system moving onshore over the Pacific Northwest/Northern California will produce lower elevation rain and snow over the Pacific Northwest/Northern California into the Northern Rockies. On early Thursday morning into Thursday evening, the snow and lower elevations rain will expand into Central California and the Great Basin. The snow over Central California will be very heavy at times. Ziegenfelder/Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php