Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 234 AM EST Thu Feb 07 2019 Valid 12Z Thu Feb 07 2019 - 12Z Sat Feb 09 2019 ...A deepening winter storm will produce widespread heavy snows from eastern portions of the Northern Plains...across the Upper Mississippi Valley and into the Upper Great Lakes and accumulating freezing rain across the Lower Great Lakes into Northern New England... ...Big temperature swings expected as the arctic front sweeps eastward Thursday from the Southern Plains into the Mid to Lower Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley and across the Eastern Seaboard on Friday... ...Another surge of Arctic air poised to push south into the Northern Plains...Northern Rockies and portions of the Pacific Northwest this weekend. Low elevation accumulating snows possible for the Pacific Northwest at this time... An area of low pressure is expected to continue to deepen Thursday along the strong arctic front stretching from the Southern Plains into the Mid Mississippi Valley. This low will be pushing northeastward into the Great Lakes region by Thursday evening and into eastern Canada Friday...supporting heavy snows from the Upper Mississippi Valley into the Upper Lakes and accumulating freezing rain from the Lower Great Lakes into Northern New England. Blizzard conditions possible today on the northwest portion of this storm from eastern portions of North Dakota...northeast South Dakota into western Minnesota. Blizzard warnings are currently in effect across these areas for the day on Thursday. In the wake of the deepening low moving into the Great Lakes/Eastern Canada...the trailing arctic front will be pushing east from the Southern Plains into the Lower to Mid Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley Thursday and through the Eastern Seaboard on Friday. This front will bring much colder air across these regions over the next 2 days...replacing the recent much above average temperatures with below average temperatures. High temperatures will be 25 to 40 degrees colder Friday than Thursday across the Southern Plains...Lower to Mid Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley and 20 to 25 degrees colder Saturday than Friday along the east coast. The coldest temperatures over the next few days will be across the Northern Plains where highs will stay below zero into this weekend. A secondary surge of arctic air will be pushing into the Northern Plains...Northern Rockies and portions of the Pacific Northwest late Friday into Sunday. The large scale flow pattern supporting the secondary arctic surge into the Northern Plains will also support heavy snow potential into the Pacific Northwest late Friday into Saturday. Snow levels will be falling as a strong mid to upper level closed low strengthens along the B.C./Washington State coastal area. This will support accumulating snow potential at lower elevations late Friday into Saturday across the Pacific Northwest. Oravec Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php