Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 310 AM EST Wed Dec 02 2020 Valid 12Z Wed Dec 02 2020 - 12Z Fri Dec 04 2020 ...Light to moderate snow downwind of the lower Great Lakes will gradually taper off later today... ...Freeze Warnings in effect this morning across parts of the Southeast into northern Florida... ...Heavy snow possible across portions of Kansas and Oklahoma later today into early Thursday... A powerful low pressure system that brought 2 to 4 inches of rain across New England and upwards of more than a foot of snow to northeast Ohio has begun to weaken and is in the process of exiting the region. As the system moves further into eastern Canada, light snow combined with lake-enhanced snow bands across the lower Great Lakes will shift from west to east and gradually taper off today. Some leftover snow and gusty winds will move across northern New England tonight. Mainly dry and breezy conditions should return on Thursday but another disturbance could bring a round of light wintry mixed precipitation across the Great Lakes into northern New England Thursday night and into Friday morning. Meanwhile, another low pressure system is developing over the central and southern Plains in response to a cold upper-level low exiting the central Rockies. Snow across the central High Plains will become more organized across southern Kansas and western Oklahoma later today where more than 6 inches of accumulations are possible. The main energy of the system will then dip further toward the western Gulf Coast tonight as it interacts with an influx of moisture from the western Gulf of Mexico. Total rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches could cause isolated flooding concerns for areas that recently experienced heavy rain over this past weekend. By Thursday, the heavy rain threat will shift eastward to the central Gulf Coast but should begin to diminish as the day progresses. By Friday morning, the northern extent of the rain should reach the Tennessee Valley while some mixed rain and snow could reach the central Appalachians into northern Mid-Atlantic. In coincidence with the first day of Meteorological Winter, much of the Southeast and even northern Florida will experience another morning of well below average temperatures where Freeze Warnings are in effect. Temperatures aren't expected to dip below freezing across central and southern Florida, but places such as Melbourne and Fort Myers could break record low temperatures this morning. Finally, elevated to critical fire risk is expected across southern California through the workweek. This is due to offshore flow and increasingly windy conditions caused by a strong high pressure system building into the Great Basin and Rockies. Kong/Snell Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php