Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
400 AM EDT Mon Mar 17 2025

Valid 12Z Mon Mar 17 2025 - 12Z Wed Mar 19 2025

...Heavy snow over the Sierra Nevada Mountains/ Northern Rockies
on Monday and Northern/Central Rockies on Tuesday; light to
moderate snow from the Central Plains to the Upper Great Lakes on
Tuesday into Wednesday morning...

...Temperatures will be 15 to 25 degrees above average over parts
of the Central Plains and adjacent regions...

...There is a Critical Risk of fire weather over the parts of the
Central/Southern High Plains on Monday and Extreme Risk over the
Southern High Plains...

A front extending from the Northeast and mid-Atlantic Coast will
move off the East Coast by early Tuesday. The boundary will
produce rain from the Northeast to the southern Mid-Atlantic,
ending over the Mid-Atlantic Coast by Monday evening and the
Northeast by Tuesday evening. In addition, light snow will fall on
the northwest side of the precipitation shield over the Lower
Great Lakes and Central Appalachians through late Monday
afternoon. Light snow will also develop over parts of Northern New
England from Monday evening into Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, on Monday, a second front extending from parts of the
Northern/Central Plains into the Great Basin/Central California
will move eastward to the Great Lakes to the Central Plains/
Middle Mississippi Valley and then southward to the Lower
Mississippi Valley/Southern Plains by Wednesday. The associated
upper-level energy moving onshore over California moves inland to
the Central Plains by early Wednesday morning. The energy will
produce coastal rain with possible embedded thunderstorms and
higher-elevation snow over the Pacific Northwest/California and
the western Great Basin that will wane over California by Tuesday
morning. The snow will be heavy over the Sierra Nevada Mountains
on Monday.

Weak onshore flow off the Pacific will keep coastal rain and
higher-elevation snow over the Pacific Northwest and Northern
Intermountain Region through early Wednesday morning. Overnight,
on Monday, the snow will move into the Northern/Central Rockies,
eastern Great Basin, and Southwest. On Tuesday, the snow will be
heavy over parts of the higher elevations of the Northern/Central
Rockies.

Moreover, ahead of the front, upper-level ridging will aid in
allowing the temperatures to become 15 to 25 degrees above average
over parts of the Central Plains and adjacent regions. Further,
along the eastern portion of the system, light to moderate snow
will develop over parts of the Northern Rockies, Northern Plains,
and Upper Mississippi Valley on Monday. Snow will move into parts
of the Northern/Central High Plains by Tuesday evening.

Additionally, light to moderate snow will develop over the Central
Plains, Upper Mississippi Valley, and Upper Great Lakes by
Wednesday morning. Showers and thunderstorms will develop south of
the front over parts of the Central Plains and Middle Mississippi
Valley. Rain will also develop south of the boundary over part of
the Upper Great Lakes. 

Elsewhere, the SPC has issued a Critical Risk of fire weather over
parts of the Central/Southern High Plains on Monday and an Extreme
Risk of fire weather over the Southern High Plains on Tuesday.


Ziegenfelder


Graphics available at
https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php