Short Range Forecast Discussion
NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD
325 PM EST Thu Jan 21 2021

Valid 00Z Fri Jan 22 2021 - 00Z Sun Jan 24 2021

...Heavy snow for the Sierra Nevada Mountains, mountains of the Great
Basin, and the Central Rockies Friday through Saturday...

...Heavy lake effect snow downwind from Lakes Erie and Ontario through
Friday...

...Snow to develop over parts of the Upper Midwest Saturday...

A front extending across the interior Gulf Coast States will have moisture
pooling along the boundary and will produce rain from parts of the
Southern Plains eastward across the Southeast through Friday.

Meanwhile, a reinforcing cold front will sweep across the Great Lakes
tonight, producing favorable cold westerly to northwesterly flow across
the unfrozen Great Lakes. Lake-effect snow showers will increase in
coverage and intensity this evening and continue through Friday.
Locally-heavy snow accumulations are likely with the heaviest totals
expected over western and northwestern portions of New York State,
downwind from Lakes Erie and Ontario; northern portions of the Lower
Peninsula of Michigan, downwind of Lake Michigan; and along the north
coast of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, downwind of Lake Superior
through Saturday.

A front over the Pacific Northwest will advance southeastward to the
Southwest through Friday and into the Southern Rockies Saturday. The
system will produce coastal rain and higher elevation snow over parts of
southern Oregon through California and snow across the Intermountain
Region into parts of the Northern Rockies through Friday. Later Friday,
higher elevation snow will develop over parts of Northern/Central
California. The higher elevation snow will expand across the terrain of
the Great Basin, Southwest, and Central/Southern Rockies along with lower
elevation rain. The rain will also shift into Southern California on
Friday evening. By Saturday morning, the rain and snow will end over the
Pacific Northwest and most of Northern California, yet continue over
Southern California, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the Great Basin into
the Central/Southern Rockies.

Overnight Friday through Saturday, a front over South-Central Canada will
move southward into the Upper Midwest. In conjunction with upper-level
dynamics over the Central/Southern Rockies, snow will develop over parts
of the Northern/Central Plains into parts of the Upper/Middle Mississippi
Valley.

Ziegenfelder

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