Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 313 PM EST Fri Dec 11 2020 Valid 00Z Sat Dec 12 2020 - 00Z Mon Dec 14 2020 ...A swath of light to moderate snow is likely from the central Rockies to the central Great Lakes through Saturday before impacting northern Maine by Saturday night... ...A lull in the rain and snow expected on Saturday for the Pacific Northwest and northern California before the next round arrives Saturday night... ...More snow will traverse the central/southern Rockies through Saturday, reaching the central Plains by Sunday with some mixed precipitation... A low pressure system is forecast to intensify and move across the Midwest into the lower Great Lakes through Saturday. This system will produce a swath of snow and mixed precipitation from the central Plains through the central Great Lakes. Meanwhile, moisture drawn from the Gulf of Mexico will be lifted ahead of a trailing cold front, fueling showers and thunderstorms across the Arklatex region and Lower Mississippi Valley through tonight. As the storm center moves towards the lower Great Lakes on Saturday, moderate to heavy snow is forecast to develop over the northern part of lower Michigan while mixed rain and snow develops over northern New England. Total snowfall amounts of around 3 to 6 inches are forecast from southeast Nebraska to southern Wisconsin, with locally higher amounts possible. The highest snowfall is likely to occur across the northern part of lower Michigan, where 6 to 12 inches of snow with locally higher amounts is forecast. This amount of snow will likely lead to treacherous travel across the region. The snow over lower Michigan will quickly taper off Saturday night as the storm center tracks towards northern New England. 6 to 8 inches of snowfall can be expected for northern Maine with mixed precipitation farther south across interior northern New England through Sunday. Ahead of the storm, widespread southerly winds will allow temperatures to become 10 to 20 degrees above average over the country's eastern third. In comparison, parts of the central and southern High Plains will be 10 to 15 degrees below average. High elevation snow will continue over the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West through tonight. But as the associated upper trough moves farther inland, a lull in the precipitation is expected to settle across the region on Saturday before the next surge of moisture arrives Saturday night and continues into Sunday. The biggest impact along the West Coast will be potentially heavy rain along coastal regions of northern California and Oregon. Total rainfall amounts could locally reach 4 inches and could lead to isolated flooding. Upwards of two feet of snow could fall across the Sierra and Cascade mountain ranges as well. The aforementioned upper trough is expected to move into the southern Rockies by Saturday evening and into the southern Plains by Sunday. Light to moderate snow will be spreading across the central/southern Rockies behind the upper trough. A low pressure system will develop and move across the southern Plains on Sunday, spreading wintry weather across the central Plains Sunday morning north of the storm track. By Sunday evening, rain and some thunderstorms associated with the system are expected to expand across the Deep South towards the interior Southeast. Kong Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php