Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 257 AM EST Wed Feb 27 2019 Valid 12Z Wed Feb 27 2019 - 12Z Fri Mar 01 2019 ...Heavy snow continues for higher elevations of the West... ...Light to moderate snow will spread from the Great Lakes to Northeast on Wednesday and Wednesday night... ...Showers and thunderstorms expected for the southeastern U.S. through Friday... ...Below average temperatures will continue for the foreseeable future in the Northern Plains... An upper-level low will spin off the coast of Washington state over the next couple of days, and this along with a slow-moving surface low pressure system and associated fronts will help cause precipitation in the West. Coastal rain is expected to be lighter today than the past couple of days, so flooding is less of a threat. However, heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada will continue, and an additional 1 to 3 feet of snow is possible there through Friday morning. Smaller impulses of upper-level energy will traverse the Northwest on Wednesday and on Thursday night, leading to additional heavy snow of 1 to 2 feet in the Sawtooth Mountains and Tetons/Wind River Mountains through Friday morning as well. With the ongoing cold weather, light snow is even possible in the lower elevation cities of the Pacific Northwest like Seattle and Portland. Another region where snow is likely is the Great Lakes region and into the Northeast today. The Upper Great Lakes should see relatively light snow of 1 to 4 inches, while a swath of 4 to 6 inches of snow is expected in the interior Northeast, with higher amounts downwind of Lake Erie due to lake enhancement. Cold temperatures are forecast to continue across the Northern/Central Plains and make their way into the Upper/Middle Mississippi Valley, though Thursday will be the best break from the ongoing much below average temperatures. While high temperatures will only be in the teens across the Northern Plains on Thursday, and this is below normal, this is actually a warmup from the past several days, and a renewed surge of dangerously cold air is expected this weekend. Meanwhile, the southern tier of the CONUS and the Ohio Valley will be above average on Wednesday, though a cold front sinking slowly southward will cool down the Ohio Valley and parts of the Lower Mississippi Valley and Southern Plains on Thursday. As a warm front moves north into the Gulf Coast states and moist air from the Gulf returns, showers and thunderstorms will be on the increase on Wednesday and Thursday from the Southern Plains eastward through the Southeast. Rainfall amounts through Friday morning will generally be 1 to 2 inches, with locally higher amounts. On Thursday, a few strong storms are possible for the Central/Eastern Gulf Coast, where the Storm Prediction Center has a Marginal Risk of severe weather. On the northern edge of the precipitation chances, in Oklahoma and into northern Arkansas and Missouri, light accumulating freezing rain is possible in the cooler air behind a cold front on Wednesday and Thursday morning. Frozen precipitation is also possible for parts of the Mid-Atlantic by Thursday night. Tate Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php