Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 220 AM EST Fri Jan 08 2021 Valid 12Z Fri Jan 08 2021 - 12Z Sun Jan 10 2021 ...Heavy precipitation over parts of the Pacific Northwest and Southern Appalachians today... ...Below average temperatures across Southeast today... An upper-level trough will bring high altitude snow and low elevation rain to parts of the Pacific Northwest today. Snowfall isn't expected to be particularly heavy over the higher elevations of the Cascades. 6-8 inches of snow are possible over the Cascades and Northern Rockies, with isolated amounts exceeding that over the southern Cascades today. Meanwhile, in the East, an area of low pressure will move off the Southeast coast today as it produces rain across the Carolinas into the Mid-Atlantic. Heavy snowfall is expected to continue over parts of the Central/Southern Appalachians, particularly the North Carolina Appalachians, where Winter Storm Advisories and Warnings are in effect. Additional accumulations of between 2-4 inches are expected over this area. Temperatures over the Carolinas are likely to drop on the order of 15-20 degrees below average today as the area of low pressure moves off the coast and cold air flows down the Appalachians and spills over into the Mid-Atlantic Piedmont. A new surface low pressure system will develop over the Central/Southern Plains as the amplified upper-level trough over the Pacific Northwest dives southward through the Central/Southern Rockies on Saturday and Sunday. Snow will spread across the Northern/Central Rockies on Saturday as the upper-level energy moves across the area. This new system may produce 6-8 inches of snowfall over parts of the Central/Southern Plains on Sunday. Kebede Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php