Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 140 PM EST Fri Jan 17 2020 Valid 00Z Sat Jan 18 2020 - 00Z Mon Jan 20 2020 ...A developing winter storm will produce widespread hazardous travel conditions from the Mid to Upper Mississippi Valley, Mid West, Great Lakes into the Northeast... ...Much below average temperatures to spread from the Northern Plains into the Mid to Upper Mississippi and Ohio valley this weekend... ...Additional heavy precipitation on tap for the Northwest... A deepening winter storm across the Central Plains tonight will be pushing northeast into the Great Lakes Saturday and into northern NY state and New England on Sunday. This storm will produce a widespread foot print of heavy snows from the Upper Mississippi Valley, across the Great Lakes, northern NY State into central to northern new England with snow totals in the 6-12"+ range possible. Strong winds on the northwest side of this storm will be producing blizzard conditions Friday night into Saturday afternoon across the eastern half of North Dakota, the eastern half of South Dakota, far western Minnesota and northwest Iowa. Winds across these regions may gust to over 50 mph, producing considerable blowing and drifting of snow and life threatening travel conditions. To the south of the heavy snow area, freezing rain will produce accumulating ice potential from the Mid Mississippi Valley, across the Mid West and into the Central Appalachians and Mid-Atlantic. Overall, this storm has the potential to produce widespread hazardous conditions across much of the northeastern quarter of the nation over the next 48 hours. In the wake of developing central U.S. storm, the arctic air currently in the lee of the Northern Rockies across the Northern High Plains will be spreading east southeastward through the remainder of the Northern Plains tonight, into the Upper Mississippi Valley Saturday and the Mid Mississippi Valley/Ohio Valley region on Sunday. Much below average temperatures likely in this arctic air with temperatures as much as 20 degrees below average. A strong low well off the Pacific Northwest coast will push its associated frontal boundary into the Pacific Northwest Friday night into early Saturday. This will produce additional low elevation moderate to heavy rains and higher elevation heavy snows tonight into Saturday. This area of the country has been very wet over the past several weeks with observed precipitation above average. Oravec Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php