Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 301 PM EST Sun Mar 01 2020 Valid 00Z Mon Mar 02 2020 - 00Z Wed Mar 04 2020 ...Mountain snow and cooler temperatures to overtake the Rockies and Southwest... ...Rain and thunderstorms across the Mississippi Valley tonight, increasing in coverage across the south-central and eastern U.S. through much of the week... An upper-level low is forecast to continue tracking southward along the California coast and then pivot eastward through northern Mexico over the beginning of the workweek. A frontal system will move southward across the Central Great Basin and Central Rockies into the Southwest, spreading precipitation over those areas with it. Some snow is expected to continue for higher elevations, with additional totals reaching over 6 inches in the Sierra Nevada and the Central Rockies, with lighter totals elsewhere. Snow and rain showers are possible elsewhere in the Southwest, with high temperatures there on Monday below normal by 10 to 20 degrees. Moisture from the Pacific and from the Gulf of Mexico will combine to produce rain and thunderstorms beginning today and tonight across the Lower to Middle Mississippi Valley ahead of a cold front. There is a chance of localized strong thunderstorms and flooding in these areas. On Monday, rain and thunderstorms should increase in coverage farther east as the cold front slowly progresses, with the Tennessee Valley and parts of the Southeast having the possibility of over an inch of rain. Some lighter rain should also make its way into the Ohio Valley and the Appalachians on Monday, with some light wintry weather in the interior Northeast. As the upper low pivots, it will provide lift for increasing precipitation in the Southern High Plains Tuesday. Severe weather is forecast along with the potential for flash flooding, with a Slight Risk of severe weather delineated in parts of Texas by the Storm Prediction Center. Rain and thunderstorms remain expected through Thursday in the southern U.S., so this is just the beginning. Ahead of the cold front, mild temperatures are forecast from the south-central U.S. through the Eastern Seaboard, with highs in the 60s extending as far north as the Mid-Atlantic. Elsewhere, the Pacific Northwest to Northern Rockies should see precipitation chances increase through the period as a couple of upper-level impulses pass through. Higher elevations of the Cascades and Rockies can expect over a foot of snow through Tuesday. The north-central tier of the country could see some light snow by Tuesday with a low pressure system passing through Canada. Tate Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php