Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 500 PM EDT Thu Apr 11 2019 Valid 00Z Fri Apr 12 2019 - 00Z Sun Apr 14 2019 ...Heavy snow continues for the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest through Friday... ...Critical fire weather danger for parts of West Texas and Southern New Mexico... ...Heavy rain and severe thunderstorms are expected for the Southern Plains and Mississippi Valley... A strong surface cyclone will continue moving northeastward into southern Ontario and eventually northern Quebec by Sunday. Heavy snow will persist across the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, within the system's northwest quadrant. 6 to 8 inches of additional snow is likely for a swath of northern Minnesota and southern Ontario. Blizzard warnings remain in effect across the Dakotas through Friday afternoon due to a tight pressure gradient around the exiting storm system. Difficult travel conditions and power outages are expected. Freezing rain remains a threat for northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with accumulations of up to a tenth of an inch by Friday evening. A slight risk of severe thunderstorms continues to be in effect through this evening for most of Illinois. The front that is currently sweeping across the mid-section of the country will stall out over the southern U.S. on Friday and Saturday as overrunning Gulf moisture and instability lead to scattered severe thunderstorms. Showers and thunderstorms will propagate eastward into the Ohio/Tennessee Valleys and later into the Mid-Atlantic. An Enhanced Risk of severe thunderstorms is in effect for northern Louisiana and parts of eastern Texas on Saturday. A Slight Risk of flash flooding is in effect for the Lower to Middle Mississippi Valley on Saturday. A critical fire weather outlook is in effect for much of the southwest through Saturday morning as a dry line sets up in western Texas behind the exiting storm system. Elsewhere, upper-level energy over the Pacific Northwest will move south and eastward into Northern Mexico by Friday evening. The energy will induce low pressure to develop over Western Texas/Northern Mexico by Saturday. The system will produce rain and higher elevation snow over the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain Region through Saturday morning. On Friday and into Saturday, snow and lower elevation rain will develop over parts of the Great Basin, Central/Southern Rockies and Southwest. There's a chance for 6 to 10 inches of snow through Saturday evening in the Central and Southern Rockies. On Sunday the same upper level energy will cause severe weather and heavy rain in the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley. Kebede Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php