Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 258 AM EST Sat Feb 16 2019 Valid 12Z Sat Feb 16 2019 - 12Z Mon Feb 18 2019 ...Snow expected for much of the western U.S. and northern plains, and rain for the southeast states... Conditions will continue to be cold and unsettled for the western U.S. through this weekend as an upper level trough builds in across the region. Shortwave energy aloft in combination with onshore flow will continue a favorable pattern for moderate to heavy mountain snow, with the Sierra Nevada again taking the brunt of the heaviest snow and strongest winds with an additional 1 to 2 feet of snow through Sunday night. Noteworthy snowfall is also expected for northern Arizona, the Oregon Cascades, the Colorado Rockies, and northwestern Montana where isolated one foot amounts are possible over the next two days. Snow will also be making weather headlines across eastern Montana, the Dakotas, and extending southeastward across Iowa as a disturbance in northwest flow aloft in the presence of an arctic airmass generates a swath of 4 to 8 inches of snow with locally higher amounts. Winter weather advisories and winter storm watches are in effect for these areas. Across the southeast U.S., a series of two surface lows will track across the Deep South and southern Appalachians through the weekend. The first event will be a wave of low pressure along the cold front that recently passed through the Mid-Atlantic region, and this is expected to produce a band of rain across North Carolina and Virginia on Saturday. By Sunday, another round of rain arrives across much of the Southeast U.S. with some light snow likely from the Ohio Valley to southern New England. D. Hamrick Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php