Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 407 AM EDT Wed Apr 15 2020 Valid 12Z Wed Apr 15 2020 - 12Z Fri Apr 17 2020 ...Heavy snow is likely over parts of the Northern/Central Rockies... ...Temperatures will be 10 to 25 degrees below average from east of the Rockies to the East Coast except Southern Florida... A deep upper-level trough over most of the country and cold air over the Rockies along with upper-level energy moving over the Northern/Central Rockies, from Wednesday into Friday morning, will aid in producing heavy snow over parts of the Northern/Central Rockies from Wednesday into late Thursday night. 1 to 2 feet of snow is possible across the higher elevations of Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. Upwards of 6 inches of snow is forecast across the High Plains of Wyoming and Northern Colorado. In addition, a front extending from the Great Lakes roughly westward to the High Plains will move eastward into the Northeast by Wednesday evening and off the Northeast and Northern Mid-Atlantic Coast by Thursday. The system will produce snow and rain over parts of the Great Lakes into parts of the Ohio Valley on Wednesday that will move eastward to the parts of the Northern/Central Appalachians overnight Wednesday before moving into parts of New England by Thursday morning. In the wake of the front, light snow showers will develop from parts of the Great Lakes to New England on Thursday ending overnight Thursday. Over the western portion of the front light snow and some rain will develop over parts of the Central High Plains by Thursday morning that will expand into parts of the Middle Mississippi Valley by Thursday evening. Overnight Thursday, the snow and some rain will expand into the Western Ohio Valley with snow moving into parts of the Great Lakes by Friday morning. The snow and rain will end over most of Kansas and Oklahoma by Friday morning, too. Meanwhile, temperatures across much of the central and eastern U.S. will feel more like March instead of mid-April. Thus, widespread Freeze Warnings and Frost Advisories stretch from the Southern Plains to the Ohio Valley. The core of the cold air will be found across the Upper Midwest through Thursday. High temperatures will struggle to get out of the 30s and 40s in this region, with lows in the teens and 20s. A few daily temperature records could fall here. In contrast, Southern Florida will enjoy above average temperatures. Forecast lows in the 70s across Southern Florida would break a plethora of daily high minimum temperature records. Additionally, a slow moving cold front along the Southeastern U.S. will focus heavy rain and isolated thunderstorms over Northern Florida through Thursday afternoon. There is also a marginal risk of excessive rainfall over the region on Wednesday into Thursday morning. The rain will aid in producing isolated flash flooding to the region. Ziegenfelder Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php