Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 300 AM EST Sun Jan 06 2019 Valid 12Z Sun Jan 06 2019 - 12Z Tue Jan 08 2019 ...A series of systems will deliver widespread rain and mountain snows to much of the Western U.S. the next couple of days.... ...Accumulating snow and light freezing rain possible from the northern Plains to the Great Lakes... ...Much above normal temperatures likely across the Central states... A series of storms take aim at the West Coast during the short range period promising a rather active pattern for much of the Western states. The initial wave will move through the Interior West today bringing widespread lower elevation rain and mountain snows to parts of the Southwest, Great Basin, and Rockies. Meanwhile, a second wave arrives into the California Coast this evening with locally heavy rainfall and isolated flash flooding possible along favored upslope regions of northern California. Significant accumulating snowfall is also likely in the Washington and Oregon Cascades and moreso the Sierra Nevada range. A third system moves towards the West Coast at the end of the period, delivering yet another round of rain and mountain snows to northern California and into the Pacific Northwest by late Monday/early Tuesday. Low pressure ejects into the Plains on Monday with precipitation beginning to develop overnight on Sunday into Monday ahead of the system across the middle and upper Mississippi Valley. Temperatures should be cold enough to support wintry precipitation from North Dakota eastward into northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with snow and ice accumulations possible. Light snow and freezing rain should move into the Great Lakes and parts of the Northeast by late Monday as the whole system pushes east. Temperatures across the country for the short range period features well above normal temperatures persisting east of the Continental Divide with +20 to +30 anomalies likely across the Central Plains and Midwest. After an initial warmer day on Sunday, temperatures briefly rebound to near or just below normal on Monday from the Mid-Atlantic into the Northeast as upper level energy slides through aloft. Out in the West, persistent precipitation and upper level troughing will keep temperatures near or below normal through the beginning of this week. Santorelli Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php