Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 250 AM EST Wed Jan 22 2025 Valid 12Z Wed Jan 22 2025 - 12Z Fri Jan 24 2025 ...Impacts continue from the historic winter storm along the Gulf Coast and Southeast... ...Dangerously cold temperatures and wind chill values will linger for much of the South and eastern U.S.... ...Critical Risk of Fire Weather for Southern California through Thursday... Precipitation from a historic winter storm will continue through Wednesday morning for the Gulf Coast and Southeast with areas of heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain expected from northern Florida northeast to the North Carolina Outer Banks. Major highway and air traffic disruptions, including road closures and flight cancellations, remain a concern, including for areas further west along the Gulf Coast where snow has already come to an end. These travel impacts may linger for several days given the historic heavy accumulations combined with frigid temperatures, as well as the lack of equipment for clearing roads compared to areas further north more accustomed to this amount of snowfall. Frigid temperatures remain in place more broadly from the Rockies to the East Coast. Forecast highs Wednesday generally range from the teens and 20s for the Midwest and the Northeast, the 20s and 30s in the Rockies, and the 30s and 40s from the central/southern Plains east through the Southeast. Wind chills of 20 to 30 degrees below zero are forecast at times across the Upper Midwest and Northeast. Sub-zero wind chills will continue from the central Plains eastward across the Ohio Valley and northern Mid-Atlantic. Any power outages across the Gulf Coast and Southeast due to the winter storm will exacerbate the threat from the cold for these areas. A slow recovery is expected Thursday as high temperatures rise around 5-10 degrees. The Northern Plains/Upper Midwest will see more seasonable temperatures Wednesday with highs into the 20s and 30s before a cold front passage drops temperatures back into the teens and 20s Thursday. Precipitation-wise, a clipper system and accompanying cold front sweeping through the northern Rockies/Plains and Upper Midwest/Great Lakes will bring some snow showers Wednesday into Wednesday night. These snow showers will spread into the Interior Northeast and Appalachians on Thursday as the system continues east. Some locally heavier totals will be possible for favorable lake-effect locations downwind of the Great Lakes as the system moves through and with cold, northwesterly flow in place. Another clipper system dropping southward will bring a renewed chance for snow showers to the northern Rockies/Plains Thursday night. In the West, the Storm Prediction Center continues a Critical Risk of Fire Weather (level 2/3) for southern California Wednesday into Thursday as very strong offshore winds persist and humidity values remain very low. Temperature-wise, conditions will be generally at or above Winter averages and mild in comparison to the East. Forecast highs range from the 30s and 40s for the Interior West, the 40s and 50s in the Pacific Northwest, and the 60s and 70s in California and the Desert Southwest. Morning low temperatures will remain a bit chilly, however, with frost and freeze related concerns for the more sensitive areas of the Desert Southwest and California Valleys as temperatures drop into the 30s. Putnam Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php