Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 431 AM EDT Sun Mar 14 2021 Valid 12Z Sun Mar 14 2021 - 12Z Tue Mar 16 2021 ...Major winter storm is poised to bring heavy snow and blizzard conditions to parts of the central Rockies to the north-central High Plains today... ...Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain over portions of the central and southern Plains today will shift towards the mid-Mississippi Valley on Monday... ...Critical fire danger continues across parts of New Mexico and western Texas... A low pressure system continues to intensify as it expands its impact with multiple forms of hazardous weather across the central portion of the country this Sunday morning. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico has been lifted ahead of a dynamic cold front which continues to trigger frequent bouts of severe thunderstorms across the southern Plains. Farther north, heavy rain with embedded thunderstorms are expanding across the central Plains ahead of a warm front associated with the intensifying low pressure system. Meanwhile, a major winter storm is currently in progress across the central Rockies and nearby High Plains on the back side of the storm system. Heavy snow and increasing winds are expected to bring blizzard conditions from parts of the central Rockies to the north-central High Plains today, with additional 2 to 3 feet of snow possible along the Front Range of Wyoming and Colorado while one to two feet could be quite common across the nearby High Plains to southwestern South Dakota. Blizzard Warnings, Winter Storm Advisories and Warnings continue to be in effect from the central Rockies to the north-central High Plains to the Black Hills of South Dakota. The storm should reach peak intensity later today as it begins to wobble eastward into the central Plains on Monday, and will begin to weaken. But in the mean time, strong to severe thunderstorms are forecast to shift eastward across the southern Plains today, reaching the Mississippi Valley on Monday before losing intensity as they reach the interior Southeast early on Tuesday. As the weakening storm pulls eastward, there will likely be a swath of freezing rain and mixed precipitation moving through parts of the Midwest and Ohio Valley, reaching the central Appalachians Tuesday morning. 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. Outside of the major storm system, some light wintry precipitation is expected over interior New England today as reinforcing shots of colder air move in from Canada. On the other hand, much above normal temperatures are forecast for the Deep South ahead of the strong cold front. 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 today. The Sierra Nevada should see heavy snow impacting the region tonight into Monday, as rain spreads into the lower elevations of northern and central California. The system will then bring mountain snows across the Great Basin and northern Arizona as well as the northern Rockies Monday night when colder air settles from west to east across the western U.S. By early on Tuesday, much of the Four-Corners region should see snow arriving while a low pressure system begins to take shape in the vicinity. Kong Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php