Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 247 PM EST Sat Mar 13 2021 Valid 00Z Sun Mar 14 2021 - 00Z Tue Mar 16 2021 ...Major winter storm will bring heavy snow and blizzard conditions to parts of the Central Rockies and central High Plains through early Monday... ...Severe thunderstorms and flash flooding over portions of the Central/Southern Plains this weekend will move into the mid-Mississippi Valley on Monday... ...Critical fire danger for parts of New Mexico and western Texas... A low pressure system will bring multiple forms of hazardous weather across the central portion of the country through the weekend as a cold upper-level low exiting the Southwest interacts with a boundary across the Central Plains. The stationary front, which has since turned warm as it begins its ascend through the Southern Plains, will be the focus for bouts of severe thunderstorm activity together with locally heavy rain across the Central/Southern Plains. The intensifying storm will ingest additional Gulf moisture and dump heavy rain across the Central Plains and Middle/Lower Mississippi Valley tonight. Heavy snow and blizzard conditions are expected to spread across Colorado and Wyoming through Sunday. The storm should reach peak intensity on Sunday, bringing snowfall amounts of possibly 4 feet for the highest elevations while one to two feet could be quite common across the nearby central High Plains. Widespread travel impacts are likely as strong winds combined with snowfall rates of one to two inches per hour may produce blizzard conditions for some areas. Blizzard Warnings, Winter Storm Advisories and Warnings have been issued for much the Central Rockies to the central High Plains to the Black Hills of South Dakota. At the same time, strong to severe thunderstorms are forecast to move across the Southern Plains ahead of a strong cold front associated with the intensifying low pressure system, reaching into the Mississippi Valley, Midwest, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic on Monday. Freezing rain may impact parts of northern Illinois and Indiana tomorrow where near 0.1 inches may fall. In addition, dry and strong downslope winds to the south of the storm are expected to promote elevated to critical fire danger across parts of the southern High Plains through Sunday. Outside of the major storm system, some light wintry precipitation is expected over interior New England on Sunday as reinforcing shots of colder air move in from Canada. In contrast, much above normal temperatures are forecast to return for the Northern Plains to the Upper Midwest. Out West, an active cold front from the eastern Pacific is expected to bring the next round of unsettled weather into much of the West Coast beginning on Sunday. The Sierra Nevada could see heavy snow impacting the region Sunday night into Monday, as rain spreads into the lower elevations of northern and central California. Kebede/Kong Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php