Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 302 PM EST Thu Dec 05 2019 Valid 00Z Fri Dec 06 2019 - 00Z Sun Dec 08 2019 ...Periods of snow to coat the Great Lakes and Northeast regions with light accumulations tonight and into Friday... ...Passing showers and a few thunderstorms in the south central Plains tonight will head for the Deep South tomorrow... ...A Pacific storm system will usher in unsettled weather to the West Coast to kickoff the weekend... Scattered lake effect snow showers and locally heavy snow squalls will dissipate this evening as a weak disturbance tracking through the Great Lakes approaches the region. Snow falling in northeast Minnesota this afternoon will move east across the northern Great Lakes this evening and into the Northeast on Friday. Accumulations on average will range between 1-4" with localized amounts of 6" possible in central New York. Snow will race east late Friday and drier conditions will settle in across the Great Lakes and Northeast as high pressure takes hold of these regions this weekend. A developing low pressure system in the Southern Plains is responsible for showers across the High Plains of Colorado this afternoon. This storm system will develop more shower activity, as well as a few thunderstorms, from Oklahoma to the Lower Mississippi Valley overnight. The storm will then head into the Deep South on Friday with showers and thunderstorms expected from Louisiana to Georgia. The storm will weaken Saturday as it tracks south into the Gulf of Mexico with only a few spotty showers left in its wake. The West Coast will deal with yet another Pacific storm system that will usher in more rain and mountain snow starting Friday morning. Heavy rain is possible along the coastal range of northern California and in the northern Sacramento Valley late Friday. Further east, Winter Storm Watches have been issued for much of the Sierra Nevada where snow amounts will range from 1-3 feet through the weekend. The Intermountain West will be next on the storm's list late Saturday with mountain snow and scattered showers region wide. Mullinax Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php