873 FXUS01 KWBC 290813 PMDSPD Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 300 AM EST Mon Dec 29 2025 Valid 12Z Mon Dec 29 2025 - 12Z Wed Dec 31 2025 ...Potent winter storm reaching peak intensity this morning from the upper Midwest to the Great Lakes with freezing rain across interior New England... ...Arctic air will surge into the eastern two-thirds of the country including Florida followed by a quick warm-up across the northern and central Plains... An intense cyclone is currently in progress across the northern tier of the country early this Monday morning. Impacts from this expansive mid-latitude cyclone range from heavy snow and blizzard conditions across the upper Midwest to the Great Lakes, freezing rain across New England, a quick round of heavy rain and embedded thunderstorms moving quickly through the eastern U.S. and across the South, as well as widespread blustery winds to locally damaging winds to these areas. As this system reaches peak intensity early this morning, blizzard conditions can be expected especially over the central Great Lakes. Meanwhile, a mix of snow sleet and freezing rain will spread quickly through New England before warmer air changes the wintry mix to all rain during the day. Snowfall amounts are expected to well exceed a foot across the upper Great Lakes, particularly along the south shore of Lake Superior where 2 feet of snow is possible. See the latest WPC key message at wpc.ncep.noaa.gov for further information on this potent winter storm. The storm center is forecast to move relatively quickly into southeastern Canada, leading to a steady decrease in snow intensity across the Great Lakes during the day today. By tonight, much of the snow across the upper and central Great Lakes should have largely tapered off, although lake-effect snow will linger a bit longer for the Snow Belt areas downwind from the lakes. For the lower Great Lakes, rain showers associated with the potent cold front early this morning will change over to lake-effect snows during the day. These lake-effect snows are expected to linger through Wednesday morning (and beyond) as an Alberta clipper brings a round of light snow across the upper Midwest on Tuesday, spreading into much of the Great Lakes by Tuesday evening. Winter precipitation aside, the Arctic cold front sweeping south will bring a drastic end to the recent record warm spell across the central U.S. to the South. A quick round of showers and perhaps some embedded thunderstorms will signal the arrival of the cold front as it sweeps across the East Coast and Florida, and then off into the Atlantic and the Gulf today. High temperatures today will be 30 to 40 degrees colder than yesterday across much of the Nation's midsection. In the West, tranquil conditions will broadly prevail as the big storm in the Great Lakes will take some time to exit the Northeast. The exception to the quiet weather will be near the tail end of the Arctic front across southeastern New Mexico and Southwest Texas as accumulating snow with locally blizzard conditions could bring locally more than 6 inches of snowfall. Meanwhile, the huge circulation of the exiting cyclone in the Great Lakes will continue to spread very strong and gusty winds into the entire eastern U.S. with snow showers at times through Tuesday and into Wednesday morning across interior New England. However, a quick warm-up is in store for the northern and central Plains beginning tonight and continuing through midweek as the Alberta clipper spreads mild air down the Rockies and into the Plains. Kong/Asherman Areas of snow continue to expand across the northern Plains this afternoon, while rain and embedded thunderstorms are tracking Midwest ahead of the low pressure center. Graphics available at https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php $$