Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 301 PM EDT Sun Oct 25 2020 Valid 00Z Mon Oct 26 2020 - 00Z Wed Oct 28 2020 ...Widespread snowfall across the central Rockies and central Plains today heads south into the central/southern Rockies, then turn into an ice storm for the southern High Plains on Monday and early Tuesday... ...Record cold temperatures continue to engulf the Rockies and the Plains over the next couple days... ...Critical to extreme fire risks and high wind threat over portions of California; elevated to critical over the southern Rockies and Southwest... The early season major winter storm in the Rockies and central Plains continues its march southward, producing moderate to heavy snow this evening. More than a foot of snow with gusty winds and plummeting temperatures is forecast for the higher terrain across the central Rockies while a wide swath of 6+ inches of snow is expected through much of the central to southern High Plains. Lighter amounts (yet still potentially hazardous) of snow and wintry mix also extend all the way into the upper Midwest. Temperatures will fall to record levels from the interior western U.S. to a large portion of the Great Plains for the next couple of days due to this early season Arctic blast. Much of the northern and central Rockies are forecast to witness sub-zero temperatures Monday morning. In addition, strong winds behind the Arctic front will cause blowing and drifting of snow with blizzard conditions possible in the windiest locations. Even high temperatures are not expected to warm much at all with high temperatures in the teens for some. Bitterly cold wind chills ranging between -10 and -20 are also expected in portions of the northern Rockies and northern Plains. West Texas in particular can anticipate a form of temperature whiplash as highs today approach 90 degrees, only to struggle to reach freezing for highs on Tuesday. These jarringly colder temperatures infiltrating the southern Plains combined with the upper low over the lower Four Corners region lays the ground work for a potential ice storm from central Kansas and Oklahoma into west Texas Monday night into Tuesday. Expect treacherous travel conditions to transpire in these areas this first half of the week. Farther west, dry air and gusty winds associated with the large and highly anomalous arctic high pressure system are expected to trigger strong winds that promote extreme fire weather conditions for parts of northern California. Monday features a prime setup for strong winds and low humidity levels throughout much of the Golden State with Santa Ana winds prompting the issuance of an Extreme Risk for fire weather along the Transverse range of southern California. Winds are forecast to be strong enough to result in some downed trees and power outages. Wind advisories have been issued for the entire Bay Area and High Wind Warnings along the higher elevations of southern California. Farther east, elevated fire risks are also in place over the southern Great Basin and Desert Southwest with many wind advisories also in place in these areas. Elsewhere, drier conditions should return to the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic on Monday with warmer temperatures stationed in the Southeast. However, some tropical downpours and thunderstorms are expected to continue over southern Florida into Monday as Tropical Storm Zeta churns up the waters of the western Caribbean Sea. Residents along the Gulf Coast should continue to monitor the latest forecasts for Zeta from the National Hurricane Center into the upcoming week. Mullinax Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php