Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 400 AM EDT Sun Mar 23 2025 Valid 12Z Sun Mar 23 2025 - 12Z Tue Mar 25 2025 ...Snow develops across the upper Midwest to the upper Great Lakes today as severe weather and heavy rain threat emerge across the Mid-South... ...More wet weather expected for the Pacific Northwest through Monday before a drying trend sets in... ...Fire weather threat today across large portions of the Central to Southern Plains... A fairly deep low pressure system will be the main weather maker for the eastern two-thirds of the country for the next couple of days as we head into the new week. This system is currently consolidating over the northern and central Plains with two separate centers of circulation as an upper-level trough moves off the Rockies into the High Plains. Enough cold air will be available to support moderate to locally heavy snow mainly north of the low center across the upper Midwest today. The snow will become more widespread tonight across the upper Great Lakes region as the northern low becomes the main system. Upwards of 6 to 8 inches of new snow with locally high amounts can be expected across the upper Midwest to upper Great Lakes. Farther south, a second low pressure center along a southern front will help organize and trigger showers and thunderstorms this morning from Missouri eastward into the Ohio Valley. A better chance of strong to severe thunderstorms will arrive by late this afternoon into tonight across the Deep South as the cold front associated with the northern low catches up and merges with the southern front. The primary threats will be damaging thunderstorm wind gusts, large hail, along with possible tornadoes. The merged system will deliver a round of snow from upstate New York to interior New England on Monday while scattered showers and thunderstorms move through a large portion of the eastern U.S. before colder and drier air will be ushered into the entire region behind a cold front. Meanwhile, moisture from a relatively active Pacific weather pattern will continue to send moderate to heavy rain into the state of Washington today and into Monday. By Monday night into Tuesday morning, the offshore fronts are forecast to weaken and lift more northward toward western Canada, leading to a drying trend for the Pacific Northwest. Much of the rest of the western U.S. will be dry with a warming trend continuing through the next couple of days under the influence of an upper-level ridge. The warm air will spread into much of the Plains on Monday with little precipitation despite the presence of a pair of fronts. Much of the Great Lakes and Northeast will remain cold due to the passage of the aforementioned low pressure system. Some wet snow this morning in Maine will move off to the east behind a front as some lake-effect snow across upstate New York should gradually taper off today with the arrival of a high pressure system. Kong Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php