Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 319 PM EDT Thu Mar 22 2018 Valid 00Z Fri Mar 23 2018 - 00Z Sun Mar 25 2018 ...Heavy rainfall and flash flooding expected to continue into the evening hours across portions of southern California... ...Heavy snows possible for portions of the northern Great Plains and Midwest... ...Snows will continue to diminish across the Northeast... Periods of heavy rain are expected to continue across portions of southern California into the evening hours on Thursday as a moisture-laden cold front moves onshore. Dangerous flash flooding and debris flows remain a concern, especially in the vicinity of areas recently impacted by wildfires. Rains however are expected to subside by early Friday as the front moves east of the region. Widespread precipitation across the Great Basin in the central Rockies, with locally heavy mountain snows, can be expected as the front moves further east Thursday night into Friday morning. By Friday morning, as the system begins to move across the Rockies, light to moderate precipitation is expected to develop across the northern Great Plains. Precipitation is expected to quickly spread south and east from the northern Great Plains into the upper and mid Mississippi and lower Ohio valleys as an area of low pressure strengthens and moves east across the central Great Plains. This system interacting with a much colder and drier airmass extending south from central Canada will raise the potential for wintry precipitation, with locally heavy snow accumulations possible, across North Dakota on Friday, shifting further south and east across portions of southern Minnesota, northern Iowa and Illinois, central Indiana and southwest Ohio late Friday and early Saturday. Accumulating snows may reach as far south and east as the southern Appalachians and central Mid-Atlantic region on Saturday. Back to the west, unsettled weather is expected to continue across the Pacific Northwest and northern California to the northern Rockies as a series of upper disturbances and their associated frontal systems push through the region. This is expected to produce periods of heavy precipitation along the southern Oregon and northwest California coasts, with heavy snow accumulations likely in the coastal ranges and southern Cascades. Meanwhile, snows will continue to diminish across New England as the low pressure system most recently responsible for widespread heavy snows across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast moves further north toward Nova Scotia Thursday evening. An upper level system dropping south out of eastern Canada is expected to encourage snow showers across New York and New England on Saturday, however accumulations are expected to remain light. Pereira Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php