Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 130 AM EST Thu Feb 27 2025 Valid 12Z Thu Feb 27 2025 - 12Z Sat Mar 01 2025 ...Series of clipper systems to bring rain and snow showers to the Great Lakes, Appalachians, and Northeast through the early weekend... ...Above to well above-average temperatures expected to persist for most of the country to end the work week... A clipper system moving through the Great Lakes and Appalachians/Northeast will bring unsettled weather across the region today (Thursday). Scattered light to moderate rain showers can be expected across portions of the Mid-Atlantic and Carolinas while a messy mix of rain and snow is expected for higher elevations of the Appalachians as well as further north into the interior Northeast/New England. Some light to moderate snow totals can be expected for higher elevations of Upstate New York/New England as well as locations closer to the Canadian border that will see mostly snow. Some lake-enhanced light to moderate snow totals are also likely downwind of Lakes Erie and Ontario. Precipitation for most locations should come to an end by Friday evening, lingering longest for the Appalachians and Interior Northeast. Then, on Friday, another clipper system will drop southward from Canada and into the Upper Great Lakes bringing a swath of moderate to locally heavy snowfall. The system will swing eastward across the Lower Great Lakes/Interior Northeast by Friday evening bringing additional light to moderate snows. The highest totals are most likely across higher elevations of Upstate New York and downwind of Lake Ontario. Elsewhere, the country will be mostly dry. A low pressure system moving through southern California may bring some showers and thunderstorms by late Friday/early Saturday. Most of the country will continue to see above to well above average temperatures and mild conditions to end the work week. In the East, forecast highs Thursday generally range from the 30s and 40s in New England, the 40s and 50s in the northern Mid-Atlantic, and the 60s and 70s in the southern Mid-Atlantic into the Southeast. A cold front passage will bring highs down by about 10 degrees on Friday, but this will still be at or a bit above average for most locations. For the central U.S., forecast highs the next couple of days range from the 40s and 50s across the northern Plains and Great Lakes; the 50s and 60s for the central Plains, Middle Mississippi Valley, and Ohio Valley; and the 60s and 70s for the southern Plains. Into the West, highs are expected to be in the 50s and 60s for the Pacific Northwest and Great Basin/Interior West, the 60s and 70s in California, and the 70s and 80s in the Desert Southwest. Putnam Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php