Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 1214 PM EST Wed Dec 05 2018 Valid 00Z Thu Dec 06 2018 - 00Z Sat Dec 08 2018 ...Storm system to bring rain and mountain snow to California Wednesday and Thursday... ...A developing winter storm may bring accumulating ice and snow to the Southern Rockies and Southern Plains by Friday... Scattered precipitation will continue in California, especially southern California, through Thursday. Although the rain will not be particularly heavy, minor debris flows or mudslides are still a concern near recent burn scars in southern California. Snow is also expected in the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada range and above six thousand feet elevation in the mountains near Los Angeles. This same weather system will spread low elevation rain and high elevation snow showers into the Southwest and southern Great Basin on Thursday as well. Elsewhere across the country, sprawling surface high pressure dominates through early Thursday, resulting in a relatively quiet weather pattern. Temperatures across the Eastern third of the country, as well as the northern Rockies will be 10 to 15 degrees below early December normals on Wednesday, with a reinforcing shot of cold air entering the northern tier states by Thursday. Afternoon highs on Thursday may be 10 to 20 degrees below average across the Northern and Central Plains and into the Upper Mississippi Valley in the wake of a cold front stretching from the Great Lakes to Texas. Light snow for northern locations and light rain for southern locations will accompany this front as it works south and east on Thursday. Attention then turns to a developing winter storm, with precipitation increasing in intensity by early Friday across the Southern Plains as the upper level storm over California pushes eastward and brings a surge of moisture into the region. Accumulating snow and freezing rain appears increasingly likely from eastern New Mexico to near Oklahoma City on Friday. Santorelli/Burke Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php