Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 416 AM EDT Sun Mar 29 2020 Valid 12Z Sun Mar 29 2020 - 12Z Tue Mar 31 2020 ...Wintry precipitation across the upper Midwest and heavy rain over the Ohio Valley expected to taper off today as wintry weather lingers over northern New England... ...Snow will be measured in feet along the Cascades... ...Threat of heavy rain returns for the Deep South later on Monday as critical fire weather conditions persist over the southern High Plains... A strong low pressure system currently moving across the upper Midwest is responsible for gusty winds and areas of wet snow across portions Minnesota while scattered heavy rain and severe thunderstorms sweep across areas to the east of the Mississippi Valley. The storm is expected to gradually weaken over the Great Lakes as a new storm center is forecast to intensify south of Long Island tonight. Wintry precipitation well ahead of the storm will overspread northern New England by tonight. The old storm center will continue to weaken but will be slow to move across the lower Great Lakes as the new storm center continues to intensify off the New England coast. This will likely result in wintry precipitation lingering over New England into Tuesday. Snowfall totals over northern Maine will likely exceed 6 inches by Tuesday. As the strong storm system moves into the Northeast, the fire weather threat over the southern High Plains is expected to lessen today. However, a new low pressure system is forecast to form over the southern Plains early next week. Drier and windier conditions behind the storm will once again raise the fire risk over the southern Plains by Monday. The same storm will once again feed moisture from the Gulf into the Deep South. The threat of heavy rain can be expected to increase from the southern Plains to the lower Mississippi Valley on Monday and continue into Tuesday ahead of a warm front. Meanwhile, very warm weather is expected this afternoon from Virginia southward into the Southeast as temperatures soar into the 80s. However, this taste of summer will be short-lived as below normal temperatures over the Great Lakes on Monday will push into the East Coast by Tuesday. Out west, an upper-level trough will take a few days to track across the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. This makes for a cool and unsettled weather pattern across the region. This pattern is also favorable for dropping heavy snowfall in the Cascades, Blue, Bitterroot, Sawtooth, and Teton Mountain ranges. The Cascades most notably will be measuring snow in feet through mid-week. Meanwhile, neighbors in the Southwest will be mostly dry but cool through Monday before a warming trend expected to begin on Tuesday. Kong/Mullinax Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php