Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 400 AM EDT Tue Mar 12 2024 Valid 12Z Tue Mar 12 2024 - 12Z Thu Mar 14 2024 ...One more day of unsettled weather across the Pacific Northwest and northern California before the precipitation gradually tapers off on Wednesday... ...Mountain snows spreading into the northern and central Rockies on Wednesday before heavy snow develops over central Colorado Wednesday night... ...Fire danger across the southern High Plains will be followed by chance of severe thunderstorms across the north-central Plains later on Wednesday as rain may change over to wet snow in the nearby High Plains... ...Anomalously warm temperatures to expand eastward from the Upper Midwest into the Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast through Wednesday... A gradual shift in the large-scale upper-level pattern across the U.S. will bring unsettled weather that has been impacting the Pacific Northwest in recent days progressively eastward into the central U.S. by Wednesday night. The final in a series of Pacific fronts and low pressure systems will push onshore into the West Coast today, bringing additional mountain snow and lower-elevation rain with one to possibly two feet of new snow along the Cascades. As the main upper trough presses eastward through the western U.S. the next couple of days, areas along the West Coast will have a chance to gradually dry out on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the main batch of moisture will penetrate farther inland in the form of mountain snow pushing into the northern to central Rockies on Wednesday. The upper trough will also help develop a low pressure system over the central High Plains on Wednesday. The interaction of the upper trough with the intensifying low pressure system will begin to organize and focus an area of moderate to heavy snow over central Colorado by early on Thursday. By Thursday morning, snow could be falling in earnest over the mountainous terrain into the Front Range and nearby High Plains of central Colorado. On the warm side of the low pressure system, low relative humidity and gusty winds will continue to raise the danger of wildfires across central to southern High Plains today, followed by a more southward focus from the Texas Panhandle to western Texas on Wednesday. The dry environment in the Plains states will initially limit the formation of showers and some thunderstorms across the mid-Mississippi Valley into the Midwest today into early on Wednesday. However, as the low intensifies, influx of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico is forecast to organize an area of enhanced rainfall over the vicinity of Nebraska Wednesday night as the storm center passes just to the southeast. Some of the enhanced rainfall could be accompanied with severe weather. In addition, there is a possibility that the western portion of the enhanced rainfall would change over to wet snow early on Thursday if additional cold air wraps around the storm center. Across the eastern U.S., the departure of a strong surface low near Nova Scotia into the western Atlantic will allow the gusty winds to moderate further across the northern Mid-Atlantic and Northeast today. Breezy conditions are likely to remain for northern New England into Tuesday night, but overall improvement is expected. High pressure over the southern U.S. will slide eastward over the next couple of days, allowing winds to return from the south, bringing warmer temperatures northward. The greatest departures from normal highs will remain over the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region on Tuesday which may cause a few record daily maximum temperatures to be broken, but the magnitude of the anomalous warmth is likely to be lower on today compared to Monday. High temperatures in the 60s to lower 70s will expand eastward through Wednesday across the Ohio Valley and portions of the northern Mid-Atlantic into the Northeast, roughly 15 to 25 degrees above mid-March averages. With the warmer weather will come the threat for thunderstorms across portions of the central U.S. Some severe thunderstorms will be possible ahead of a dryline from eastern Oklahoma/Kansas into western Missouri on Tuesday with a broader risk across some of these same areas on Wednesday. Again, the prevailing dry environment will initially limit the intensity of the storms. Kong/Otto Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php