Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 300 PM EST Thu Mar 06 2025 Valid 00Z Fri Mar 07 2025 - 00Z Sun Mar 09 2025 ...Low pressure system will bring widespread mountain snow across the western U.S. and a swath of moderate to locally heavy snowfall across the north-central Plains through Friday... ...Critical fire weather conditions expected to continue across the southern High Plains... ...Colder and drier air to arrive across the East but with some areas of snowfall downwind of the Great Lakes and into the central and northern Appalachians... A broad low pressure system currently developing over the interior western U.S. will bring widespread unsettled weather eastward into the mid-section of the country through the next couple of days. In the short term, widespread mountain snow will affect the Great Basin eastward into the northern and central Rockies into Friday. The low pressure system will begin to move across the central Plains. Colder air will support a swath of moderate to locally heavy snowfall north of the track of the low pressure center from the northern Rockies eastward across the north-central Plains where up to locally a foot of new snow is possible on Friday. Snow will extend as far east as portions of the Midwest including Iowa and northern Illinois where at least a few inches of accumulation can be expected. In addition, a piece of upper-level disturbance embedded within the broad system will bring lower-elevation rain and mountain snow across the southwestern U.S. through Friday, reaching into the Four Corners by Friday night. The mountain snow will then advance further east across the southern Rockies on Saturday. Heaviest snowfall of 1 to 2 feet can be expected along the Mogollon Rim and the San Juan Mountains in the Rockies, as well as across the higher terrain of the central Rockies and along the Wasatch of Utah. Farther south over the southern High Plains on the warmer and drier side of this storm system, there will once again be concerns for wildfire activity, as a combination of low relative humidities and gusty winds is expected to once again result in critical fire weather conditions which will primarily encompass much of eastern and southern New Mexico and out into western Texas. Across the eastern U.S., colder and drier air will continue to be ushered into the area behind a slowly departing deep cyclone across the Canadian Maritimes. The proximity of the deep low will allow the rain to change over to light snow tonight across northern Maine, followed by a period of light to moderate snow through Friday morning as a final low pressure wave is forecast to pass just to the east. A reinforcing shot of colder air will be accompanied with areas of snow showers to bring locally several inches of lake-enhanced snowfall downwind of the Great Lakes and into the upslope areas of the central and northern Appalachians on Friday. Meanwhile, rain and a few embedded thunderstorms will begin to develop in Texas Saturday morning and expand eastward into Louisiana by Saturday afternoon as a wave of low pressure develops along a cold front. Kong Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php