Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 400 AM EDT Fri Mar 21 2025 Valid 12Z Fri Mar 21 2025 - 12Z Sun Mar 23 2025 ...Wet weather continues across the Pacific Northwest as mountain snow spreads into the Northern Rockies by the weekend... ...A brief cold snap across the South this morning will be followed by a general warm up to Spring-like temperatures for the Plains and the East Coast... ...Fire weather threat continues across large portions of the Central to Southern Plains... A low pressure wave forming along a cold front will track across the New England coast this morning, bringing a period of rain, heavy at times for much of New England, especially for Maine today. The relatively compact system is forecast to move off into the Canadian Maritimes by tonight. Colder air will be ushered into much of the eastern U.S. and into the South today for the first full day of Spring. The cold air could change the rain into a period of snow before ending across the higher-elevation of New England. Across much of the South, temperatures are dropping into the 30's early this morning, even down to the Gulf Coast, prompting Freeze Warnings for the interior and Frost Advisories farther to the south. A broad high pressure system behind the cold front will dominate the South today before sliding east across Florida, bringing the cold air into the region by the weekend. Southerly winds behind the high pressure system will then bring a warming trend across the Plains, raising temperatures well up into the 70s and 80s by Saturday afternoon. A lack of moisture combined with breezy conditions will keep an elevated to locally critical fire weather threat for much of the central to southern Plains heading into the weekend. Dry and Red Flag warning are currently in effect for portions of these areas. The recent wet weather pattern over the Pacific Northwest is expected to continue over the next few days. The next in a series of frontal boundaries moving across the northeast Pacific will bring additional rounds of moderate to heavy rain into the Pacific Northwest especially for southwestern Oregon into northwestern corner of California. Only the highest elevations along the Cascades are expected to see heavy snow. The mountain snow is forecast to reach the northern Rockies on Saturday as a low pressure system begins to form over the northern Plains. This system will bring a round of mixed rain/snow into the upper Midwest Saturday night into early Sunday, while developing and expanding an area of scattered thunderstorms across the central Plains toward the Mid-Mississippi Valley ahead of a lifting warm front. A cold front and a weak wave of low pressure will bring a period of mixed rain and snow across the upper Great Lakes later today, into the remainder of the Great Lakes on Saturday, before moving into the interior Northeast mainly as rain showers later on Saturday through Saturday night. A brief cold snap will drop temperatures into the single digits across northern Minnesota Saturday morning. In contrast, Spring-like temperatures into the 70s will reach the Mid-Atlantic states by Saturday afternoon. Kong Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php