Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 303 PM EST Fri Dec 13 2019 Valid 00Z Sat Dec 14 2019 - 00Z Mon Dec 16 2019 ...Strengthening southeastern U.S. storm to cause wet, windy, and wintry impacts along the East Coast this weekend... ...Heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada and Rockies... ...Potential winter storm to unfold in the central Plains on Sunday... A low pressure system forming along a stalled frontal boundary off the Southeast U.S. coast will track north tonight and quickly intensify on Saturday. The storm will be responsible for miserable weather up and down the Eastern Seaboard tonight and Saturday morning. Thunderstorms will track through northern and central Florida, southern Georgia, and southern South Carolina this evening with a few storms potentially becoming severe. Parts of northern New England will contend with a wintry mix tonight that may lead to a glaze of ice accumulation in spots. While the Southeast will dry off the second half of the day Saturday, the Northeast will deal with periods of rain and gusty winds most of the day. The storm will continue to rapidly strengthen as it tracks through Quebec Saturday night. A changeover to snow on the backside of the system across the eastern Great Lakes and northern and central Appalachians with several inches of snow accumulation possible. The East Coast will be mostly dry on Sunday with the lone exception being far northern New England and the eastern Great Lakes where some lingering snow showers will be possible. The western U.S. will also deal with wet and wintry conditions of its own as Pacific moisture associated with an upper-level trough produces valley rain and mountain snow. The Sierra Nevada and much of the Rockies will witness heavy snowfall with amounts totaling over a foot in the highest elevations. The hardest hit areas will be the mountains of Utah and Colorado where a yard stick will be required to measure snowfall. Snow will taper off across the Rockies on Monday. The upper-level trough responsible for the heavy mountain snow out west this weekend will head for the Great Plains late Sunday. The storm system will tap into moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and generate showers and thunderstorms across the the Deep South both Sunday and Monday. Further north, Gulf moisture will overrun colder air stationed over the central Plains and mid-Mississippi River Valley. This will result in a swath of snow and freezing rain in these areas late Sunday and into Monday. The threat for snow and ice will work its way east into the Ohio Valley Sunday night and potentially into the northern Mid-Atlantic on Monday. Mullinax Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php