Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 400 AM EDT Mon Mar 11 2024 Valid 12Z Mon Mar 11 2024 - 12Z Wed Mar 13 2024 ...Heavy wet snow will continue into the morning hours on Monday across the higher elevations of the northern New England and portions of the lower Great Lakes... ...Unsettled weather is expected to persist across the Pacific Northwest and into the northern Rockies with multiple rounds of lower-elevation rain and higher elevation snow... ...Fire danger to increase across the central and southern High Plains from very dry conditions, gusty winds, and warm temperatures... A deep low pressure system centered over Downeast Maine early this morning will be slow to move away into the Canadian Maritimes. The ongoing heavy wet snow associated with this system is expected to linger across the higher terrain from the Adirondacks of New York, up across the Green and White Mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire respectively. Meanwhile, the cold air pouring southeast over the lower Great Lakes will sustain heavy lake-effect snow shower activity with squalls locally across upstate New York into the morning of today before they gradually taper off during the afternoon. The snow will likely taper off to snow showers and flurries by tonight across northern Maine. Nevertheless, the strong and gusty winds are expected to persist into Tuesday as the large circulation of the low pressure system will take time to depart. In the wake of the low pressure system, a large dome of high pressure will build across the South and into the Southeast while taking its time to slide off into the Atlantic. Temperatures over the next couple of days will be well above normal especially across the central and northern Plains and the Midwest before gradually advancing into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. The return of dry weather coupled with increasingly gusty winds and low relative humidity will promote an increased risk of wildfires. In fact, the Storm Prediction Center has highlighted large areas of the central and southern High Plains in an elevated to critical fire danger area. This will include the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma where devastating fires occurred a couple weeks ago. Meanwhile across the Pacific Northwest, multiple low pressure systems arriving from the Pacific will bring frequent rounds of precipitation onshore and then farther inland into the northern Rockies through the next couple of days. Moderate to locally heavy rain is expected for the coastal ranges with heavy snow over the higher elevations of the Cascades, northern Sierra Nevada, and the Sawtooth, Bitterroot, and Teton ranges of the northern Rockies. The Cascades will likely receive the heaviest snowfall totals where as much as 1 to 2 feet of new snow can be expected. Temperatures are expected to begin rebounding rather quickly for much of the East and the South by later Tuesday as milder air from the Plains and Midwest advances east together with warm air beginning to return north from the Gulf of Mexico. High temperatures across portions of eastern South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin are forecast to be as much as 30 to 40 degrees above normal on today and Tuesday with temperatures approaching or locally exceeding 70 degrees. Some cities will likely be warm enough to see their daily high temperature records either tied or broken today. Meanwhile, a cooling trend is expected across the western U.S. as colder air associated with an upper trough pushes inland to bring moderate to locally heavy mountain snow into the central Rockies by early Wednesday while the West Coast begins to dry out. Farther east, a low pressure system is forecast to develop over the central to southern High Plains Tuesday night. The dry environment in the vicinity will initially limit the formation of showers and some thunderstorms across the mid-Mississippi Valley into the Midwest early on Wednesday. Some light snow could brush the northern Plains near Canadian border early Wednesday ahead of a clipper system. Kong/Orrison Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php