Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 253 PM EDT Fri Mar 13 2020 Valid 00Z Sat Mar 14 2020 - 00Z Mon Mar 16 2020 ...Severe Weather in the High Southern Plains this evening, showers and thunderstorms to make for a wet weekend in the Mid-South Saturday and the Gulf Coast on Sunday... ...Heavy snow across the Northern High Plains, Central Plains, and higher elevations of the West... ...Cooler temperatures to engulf the Midwest and Northeast this weekend, frigid temperatures in the Northern Plains and Rockies, warmer temperatures along the Gulf Coast... A low pressure system in the Southwest will emerge into the Southern Plains this evening causing additional scattered showers and thunderstorms to develop over the South-Central United States. Some thunderstorms could be severe, which is why Slight and Enhanced Risks for severe thunderstorms have been posted in west Texas and eastern New Mexico this evening. There is also a Marginal Risk for excessive rainfall over the Red River Valley where 1 to 2 inches of rainfall is expected. The rain and thunderstorm threat moves east tonight and into Saturday across the Mid-South where a broad Marginal Risk area for excessive rainfall is in place from eastern Oklahoma to the Smokey Mountains. By Sunday, the intensity of showers and thunderstorms will wain as a frontal boundary sets up shop over the Deep South. Still, spotty showers and thunderstorms will make for a wet day in portions of the Southern Plains and Southeast. Meanwhile, our neighbors in the Central Rockies, Central Plains, and Northwest will experience heavy snowfall this weekend. Portions of the Colorado Rockies, the San Juan Mountains, and the Wasatch will receive 6 to 12 inches of snow with locally higher amounts possible. On the northern flank of the storm system tracking through the Southern U.S., a swath of heavy snow will develop across the High Plains of northwest Kansas, western Nebraska, and extending as far north as the Black Hills of South Dakota. On average, parts of northwest Kansas and western Nebraska will pick up 3 to 6" of with the Black Hills picking up as much as a foot. Snow will taper off in these regions by Saturday, but snow will be an ongoing occurrence in northern and western Montana throughout the weekend. Significant snowfall accumulations over a foot are expected there with 1 to 2 feet of snow forecast. Further west the Cascades, the Shasta of Northern California, and the Sierra Nevada can expect 1 to 2 feet of snow through the weekend with snow continuing over the Sierra Nevada into Monday. Temperature wise, after a spring-like and breezy Friday in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic this afternoon a passing cold front will usher in cooler temperatures for the weekend. Below normal daily max temperatures on the order of 5 to 15 degrees below normal will be common this weekend in California, the Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Northeast. The coldest temperatures versus normal this weekend will be found in Montana where daily low temperatures will be sub-zero for some each day. Even the Pacific Northwest can expect subfreezing temperatures. On the flip side, the Gulf Coast will bask in above normal temperatures with high temperatures approaching 80 degrees. Mullinax Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php