Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 400 PM EDT Fri Mar 22 2024 Valid 00Z Sat Mar 23 2024 - 00Z Mon Mar 25 2024 ...Heavy snow likely across northern New York northern New England on Saturday... ...A wet weekend ahead for the East and West Coasts... ...A significant winter storm is in store for the northern Plains by Saturday night into Sunday morning... Quite an active weather pattern is quickly emerging across the country as we head into the weekend. A high pressure system from Canada will set the stage for sustaining the cold air that is already in place across the northern tier states. Meanwhile, a trough of low pressure currently sliding eastward into the western Gulf Coast region at the upper levels will be instrumental in developing a low pressure system that will gradually intensify and track up the East Coast during the weekend. In the near term however, the upper trough will mutually interact with a mesoscale front and plenty of warm/moist air in the Gulf of Mexico to bring a round of heavy rain mainly across southern Florida through tonight. The heavy downpours are expected to be accompanied with strong to severe thunderstorms and possibly squalls as the core of the system passes through. By Saturday, the heavy rain will likely taper off to scattered showers behind a cold front across Florida. Meanwhile, the heavy rain is expected to overspread much of the Eastern Seaboard on Saturday where widespread 1-3 inches of rainfall will likely result in flooding concerns along the I-95 corridor as a low pressure wave is forecast to track up the East Coast along a sharp coastal front. Farther north, the low pressure system will interact with the cold air mass in place across the northern tier states to bring a round of heavy snow from northern New York across northern New England on Saturday where one foot to locally 20 inches of new snow is anticipated. It appears that there will be a narrow zone of transition across central New England to coastal Maine where heavy freezing rain and sleet can be expected Saturday night as the low pressure wave approaches. The precipitation will then rapidly change over to snow before ending early Sunday morning as the system exits into the Canadian Maritimes. Meanwhile, another upper trough and surface low pressure system from the eastern Pacific are heading toward the West Coast. This system will bring widespread mountain snow and lower-elevation rain into the Pacific Northwest and California on Saturday where a couple inches of rain is possible near the coast, and up to a couple of feet of heavy snow for the Sierra Nevada. The system will reach into the Great Basin, the Intermountain region and into the northern Rockies Saturday night. From Saturday night into early Sunday, a low pressure system is forecast to develop and intensify over the central High Plains. This system will then interact with the cold air mass already in place across the northern tier states to deliver a significant winter storm across the northern Plains by Sunday morning. Kong Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php