Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 257 PM EST Wed Mar 04 2020 Valid 00Z Thu Mar 05 2020 - 00Z Sat Mar 07 2020 ...Severe thunderstorms and widespread heavy rain will impact the Gulf states and the Southeast through Friday morning... ...Canadian low pressure system to produce snow across the northern Great Lakes Thursday, wintry conditions over the eastern Great Lakes and Northeast on Friday... ...Showers and mountain snow arrives in the Pacific Northeast Thursday... A surface low and sprawling front near the Gulf Coast will be the focus for widespread showers and thunderstorms. A nearly continuous feed of sub-tropical and Gulf mositure over this frontal boundary will help fuel organized convection from Texas to the southern Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. The Storm Prediction Center has Slight Risks for severe weather in effect from east Texas to the Georgia/South Carolina border. WPC has a Slight Risk for excessive rainfall for nearly the same area, however there is a Moderate Risk identified over eastern Mississippi and central Alabama where 3 to 5 inches of rain will be possible. Rapid runoff, urban ponding and localized flash floods will be more prevalent over this region. The risk area shifts to parts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina Thursday into Friday. A low pressure system dropping south from the Canadian Praires today will surge through the Northern and Central Plains while spreading east through the Upper Mississippi Valley and Great lakes region Thursday and the Northeast by Friday. A separate cold front sagging southward into the Northeast will allow snow showers from eastern New York to northern Maine through early Thursday morning. Colder air will settle in behind the front as Canadian High pressure slides in over the central U.S. Rain, snow and a wintry mix will skirt across the northern-tier states as the system moves east. Additionally, there will will be coastal rains for the northern Mid-Atlantic and snow for portions of the Central and Northern Appalachains. A system from the North Pacific will move onshore Thursday, bringing multiple rounds of rain and mountain snows to the Pacific North; spreading to the Interior by Friday. Snow will be heavy at times, especially for the highest peaks of the Cascade and Olympic Ranges. For much of the West and Southwest, mild and dry conditions expected to continue. Campbell Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php