Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 251 PM EST Sat Feb 01 2020 Valid 00Z Sun Feb 02 2020 - 00Z Tue Feb 04 2020 ...Heavy snow over the Northern/Central Rockies... ...Temperatures will be 15 to 30 degrees above average over the Central/Southern Plains into the Upper/Middle Mississippi Valley... A very deep upper-level trough will develop along the Pacific Northwest Coast moving southeastward to the Great Basin/Central Rockies by Monday evening. The system will produce rain and higher elevation snow over the Pacific Northwest with the snow levels lowering over Oregon to the coast on Sunday into Sunday evening. The snow will move into the Northern Rockies overnight Saturday and expand into parts of the Great Basin by Sunday evening. The snow will move into the Central Rockies/Eastern Great Basin overnight Sunday into Monday. Strong winds are also expected inland over the Northern High Plains on Saturday night into Sunday with wind gusts in excess of 40 mph. Winter storm watches are already in effect for much of Utah, Wyoming, and southern Montana, with 1 to 2 feet of snow for the highest mountain ranges. Another trough over the Great Lakes into Mid-Atlantic will move out over the Western Atlantic on Sunday afternoon. The energy will aid in producing light snow over parts of the Great Lakes/Ohio Valley into the Central Appalachians that will weaken and become an area of rain and snow over the Lower Great Lakes into the Northeast overnight Sunday into Monday. A second area of upper-level energy over Southeast will move off the coast by Sunday morning. Areas of light rain will move off the Southern Mid-Atlantic Coast overnight Saturday. Elsewhere across the continental U.S., dry conditions will continue from the Desert Southwest to the Mississippi River Valley as a high pressure system governs the overall weather pattern. Warmer than normal temperatures are expected for the Central/Southern Plains into the Upper/Middle Mississippi Valley over the weekend as afternoon highs reach well into the 60s. Ziegenfelder Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php