Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 400 AM EDT Fri Mar 19 2021 Valid 12Z Fri Mar 19 2021 - 12Z Sun Mar 21 2021 ...Cold air rushes into the eastern U.S. behind a low pressure system exiting the Mid-Atlantic coast... ...Unsettled weather moves across the western U.S. for the next couple of days... The dynamic low pressure system that brought widespread severe weather across the Deep South to parts of the East Coast is in the process of exiting into the Atlantic. The threat of severe weather along the East Coast has ended. Light to moderate rain currently over the Mid-Atlantic will steadily move eastward today and should slide off the coast by around sunset. Isolated locations in the northern Mid-Atlantic could see some wet snow flakes as cold air rushes in behind the exiting storm under blustery northerly winds. A large cold high pressure system will build quickly into the Great Lakes today and then dominate much of the eastern half of the U.S. into the weekend. Fine and colder than normal conditions will extend down into much of the East Coast as well as through the Deep South. The mid-section of the country will enjoy a period of quiet weather after back-to-back strong storm systems impacted the region recently. Some light rain will appear to linger along the Southeast coastline together with gusty northeasterly winds through the weekend as a low pressure wave could develop off the east coast of Florida. Meanwhile, unsettled weather along the West Coast will push farther inland through the weekend. Generally a foot of snow is forecast for the southern Sierra Nevada and Cascades. As the associated Pacific front pushes farther inland, a mix of rain and snow will be found across the Great Basin on Saturday before tapering off on Sunday. The northern Rockies will see accumulating snows on Saturday followed by light accumulations for the central Rockies on Sunday. The northern tier states will experience a gradual warm-up during the weekend ahead of the Pacific front. Meanwhile, after a reprieve today, the fire weather threat may increase across the southern Rockies/High Plains during the weekend. Kong Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php