Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 256 AM EST Sat Feb 9 2019 Valid 12Z Sat Feb 9 2019 - 12Z Mon Feb 11 2019 ...Most of the continental U.S. colder than average with a winter storm for the western states... A strong cold front that exited the East Coast on Friday has delivered an airmass more typical of this time of year, compared to the recent warm weather over the past few days. Temperatures are expected to be near to below average for much of the eastern half of the U.S. for this weekend as a strong and expansive surface high from Canada governs the overall weather pattern. The coldest locations are expected across the northern plains and Upper Midwest, where high temperatures are forecast to remain either in the single digits or slightly below zero for locations near the Canadian border. There will also be some lake effect snow showers downwind of the Great Lakes this weekend owing to the cold air advection. The western U.S. will host another winter storm through the weekend as a cold upper low generates a surface low pressure system across the Pacific Northwest. Snow levels will be lower than usual with this event, reaching sea level across western Washington and northwest Oregon. Winter storm warnings are now in effect from the Sierra Nevada to Washington state and northwest Montana, where storm total accumulations are likely to exceed six inches, and well over a foot likely for the higher elevations. By Sunday, Gulf moisture surging northward is forecast to intersect a frontal boundary situated across the central plains to the Ohio Valley. This is expected to result in a zone of moderate to locally heavy rainfall from the ArkLaTex region to Kentucky on Sunday and Sunday night, with some areas getting over an inch of rainfall. Light snow and a wintry mix is likely north of the front across the northern Ohio Valley to southern New England, and this will include the potential for some freezing rain. D. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php