Heavy snow likely across northern New York northern New England on
Saturday.

A wet weekend ahead for the East and West Coasts.

A significant winter storm is in store for the northern Plains by
Saturday night into Sunday morning.

Quite an active weather pattern is quickly emerging across the country as
we head into the weekend.  A high pressure system from Canada will set the
stage for sustaining the cold air that is already in place across the
northern tier states.  Meanwhile, a trough of low pressure currently
sliding eastward into the western Gulf Coast region at the upper levels
will be instrumental in developing a low pressure system that will
gradually intensify and track up the East Coast during the weekend.  In
the near term however, the upper trough will mutually interact with a
mesoscale front and plenty of warm/moist air in the Gulf of Mexico to
bring a round of heavy rain mainly across southern Florida through
tonight.  The heavy downpours are expected to be accompanied with strong
to severe thunderstorms and possibly squalls as the core of the system
passes through.  By Saturday, the heavy rain will likely taper off to
scattered showers behind a cold front across Florida.  Meanwhile, the
heavy rain is expected to overspread much of the Eastern Seaboard on
Saturday where widespread 1-3 inches of rainfall will likely result in
flooding concerns along the I-95 corridor as a low pressure wave is
forecast to track up the East Coast along a sharp coastal front.

Farther north, the low pressure system will interact with the cold air
mass in place across the northern tier states to bring a round of heavy
snow from northern New York across northern New England on Saturday where
one foot to locally 20 inches of new snow is anticipated.  It appears that
there will be a narrow zone of transition across central New England to
coastal Maine where heavy freezing rain and sleet can be expected Saturday
night as the low pressure wave approaches.  The precipitation will then
rapidly change over to snow before ending early Sunday morning as the
system exits into the Canadian Maritimes.

Meanwhile, another upper trough and surface low pressure system from the
eastern Pacific are heading toward the West Coast.  This system will bring
widespread mountain snow and lower-elevation rain into the Pacific
Northwest and California on Saturday where a couple inches of rain is
possible near the coast, and up to a couple of feet of heavy snow for the
Sierra Nevada.  The system will reach into the Great Basin, the
Intermountain region and into the northern Rockies Saturday night.  From
Saturday night into early Sunday, a low pressure system is forecast to
develop and intensify over the central High Plains.  This system will then
interact with the cold air mass already in place across the northern tier
states to deliver a significant winter storm across the northern Plains by
Sunday morning.