710
FXUS01 KWBC 172009
PMDSPD

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

Valid 00Z Tue Mar 18 2025 - 00Z Thu Mar 20 2025

...Heavy snow over the Sierra Nevada through tonight with showers
and embedded thunderstorms across lower elevation of California...

...Widespread wet snow mixing with rain across the Great Basin
reaching the northern Rockies tonight...

...Heavy snow and increasing winds across northern and central
Rockies into the High Plains on Tuesday; light snow tonight near
the Canadian border of the northern tier states...

...Bursts of moderate to heavy snow with high winds expected to
expand and create blizzard conditions across the north-central
U.S. into the upper Midwest on Wednesday...

...Critical to extreme fire risk expected to expand across the
central and southern High Plains...

The recent hyperactive weather pattern across the U.S. will once
again make its presence known as yet another rapidly intensifying
cyclone is forecast to impact the mid-section of the country.  The
ingredients necessary for this cyclone continue to push farther
inland across the West Coast and into the Intermountain West as
well as the Great Basin.  The cyclone center itself is currently
making landfall over northern California.  Showers and embedded
thunderstorms associated with the system will rotate across the
lower elevation of California into this evening while heavy snow
overspreads the Sierra Nevada.  Farther inland, widespread wet
snow mixing with rain can be expected across the Great Basin
through tonight with the passage of a cold front.  The snow will
also reach the northern Rockies tonight and then expand into the
central Rockies Tuesday morning when a low pressure system begins
to intensify, expand, and track eastward into the central Plains
by Tuesday evening.  Winds will continue to strengthen across the
west-central U.S. on Tuesday as the cyclone consolidates.

Tuesday night to Wednesday will likely see the cyclone reaching
peak intensity while tracking relatively quickly across the
north-central Plains.  Blizzards conditions amid bursts of
moderate to heavy snow appear likely along with the possibility of
thunder north of the center of the cyclone track given the
vigorous nature of the cyclone.  Some strong thunderstorms can
also be expected just south of the cyclone track across the
Midwest Wednesday afternoon into early evening.  It appears that a
lack of moisture will limit the development of strong
thunderstorms across the South ahead of a strong cold front.
However, the dry and windy conditions will create widespread
critical to extreme fire danger across the central and southern
High Plains through the next couple of days at least.

Meanwhile, rain is taking its time to exit North Carolina and New
England as waves of low pressure develop and track northward along
a slow-moving front just off the East Coast.  The rain should
taper off tonight for New England and may end as wet snow flakes.
A period of light snow is also passing near the Canadian border of
the northern tier states as a clipper low pressure system passes
to the south.

Kong


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