Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 259 AM EST Tue Jan 01 2019 Valid 12Z Tue Jan 01 2019 - 12Z Thu Jan 03 2019 ...Wintry weather expected for the interior New England on New Year's Day... ...Heavy rain and snow to impact areas from the Four Corners to the Southeast over the next few days... The strong system that brought rain across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on New Year's Eve will lift northward into the Canadian maritimes early this morning. This will bring precipitation across New England--mostly in the form of snow. By later in New Year's Day and into early hours of Wednesday, snow and rain will taper off and come to an end. An upper-level low is forecast to develop over the Four Corner region, bringing yet another round of significant snowfall for parts of Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. To the east, the cold front associated with the system moving across New England will become quasi-stationary across the Southeast. Light showers can be expected along this boundary. Meanwhile, as the upper-level low is forecast to head east towards the southern Plains, a surface low will form in the Gulf of Mexico near Deep South Texas. This low will lift north toward the Texas coastline on throughout the day on Wednesday--bringing more precipitation along the western and central Gulf Coast. Later on Wednesday and into Thursday, heavy rain will set up along the southern Plains eastward into the Southeast. A wintry mix is possible along the northern edge of the precipitation shield in parts of the southern Plains on Wednesday and into Thursday. A system in the Pacific will approach the Pacific Northwest by late Wednesday and into Thursday. This will increase precipitation across the region--with rain in the lower elevations and snow across the Washington Cascades and northern portions of the Northern Rockies. In terms of temperatures, New Year's Day will be quite cold for the Plains, nearing 30 degrees below normal, while the East Coast will be very warm--with temperatures reaching 20-25 degrees above normal. By Thursday, the southern Plains and Four Corners will remain cooler than normal while the northern Plains and Upper Midwest will experience high temperatures almost 20 degrees above normal. Reinhart/Kong Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php