Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 258 PM EST Fri Jan 24 2020 Valid 00Z Sat Jan 25 2020 - 00Z Mon Jan 27 2020 ...Wintry weather expected across portions of the Great Lakes, Appalachians and Northeast... ...Heavy rain and some areas of flooding will be possible in the central and southern Appalachians, and the Mid-Atlantic... ...Waves of unsettled weather in the Pacific Northwest where multiple bouts of heavy rain and heavy mountain snow are expected... There will be no shortage of active weather over the eastern U.S. this weekend thanks to a potent upper-level low pressure system slowly advancing towards the East Coast. Winter Weather Advisories are in effect for portions of the Midwest, Great Lakes and Northeast where locally several inches of snow will accumulate through tonight. Also, there will be the threat for some areas of freezing rain, especially across the northern Appalachians and interior portions New York and New England later tonight and through Saturday as the storm pushes east, and interacts with shallow subfreezing temperatures. Hazardous travel conditions can be expected locally, but fortunately the major cities of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast should be warm enough for just plain rain. Aside from the winter weather impacts, heavy rain with the storm system will be a concern as rainfall totals of as much as 1 to 2 inches are expected tonight through Saturday for the Mid-Atlantic and southern New England. However, even heavier amounts reaching up to 3 inches or more are expected for the higher terrain of the Appalachians, including the Blue Ridge from southern Pennsylvania southward to western North Carolina. These rainfall totals may be enough to result in some flooding problems given the relatively wet antecedent conditions. As the storm system lifts northeast through New England by Sunday and begins to pull away, drier and somewhat colder air will arrive from the Midwest, although there should be plenty of snow shower activity across the Great Lakes and central Appalachians on Sunday with locally a few inches of snow possible. Meanwhile, multiple bouts of heavy precipitation will continue for the Northwest into the weekend as a series of cold fronts move in off the Pacific Ocean. This will include heavy rain for the coastal ranges where as much as a few inches of rain will be possible, and also heavy snow for the higher peaks of the Washington and Oregon Cascades where as much as 2 feet of new snowfall can be expected through the weekend. Some of this heavy snowfall will also spill over into the Intermountain West with locally heavy accumulations for the northern Rockies. Weekend temperatures across the contiguous U.S. will generally be near to above normal. The warmest anomalies will be found over the High Plains, Upper Midwest, and Great Lakes region which is mainly a reflection of the level of milder upstream Pacific air advancing east across the country, and a lack of any cold high pressure dropping south from Canada. Orrison Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php