Significant winter storm to bring heavy mountain snow, gusty winds, anddangerous travel conditions to much of the WestAlready anomalously warm temperatures for the Plains/Midwest will geteven warmer Monday and Tuesday, with widespread record-tying/breakinghighs possible.Increasing shower and thunderstorm chances for the Midwest/Great Lakeslate Tuesday, with the threat for locally heavy rainfall and severeweather.An upper-level trough/strong cold front dropping southward from thenortheastern Pacific/western Canada will bring a significant winter stormto much of the West over the next couple of days. Increasing moistureflowing in from the Pacific will lead to heavy higher elevation/mountainsnows for the Central Rockies and Cascades through Monday, and will expandinto the Sierra and ranges of the Northern Rockies/Great Basin on Tuesday.There is at least a moderate chance (>50%) that most of these locationswill see a foot of snow or more through Tuesday evening. In addition,widespread, strong, gusty winds are expected, with numerous highwind-related watches and warnings in place across the Intermountain Westas well as the adjacent High Plains. Some gusts may reach has high as 75mph. Heavy snow rates of 1-2" per hour at times along with the gusty windsmay lead to some areas of blowing/drifting snow and significantly reducedvisibility. Some snow squalls are also likely across the northern GreatBasin and Rockies Monday, which can lead to sudden drops in visibility andflash freezes along area roadways, creating dangerous travel conditions.To the east, already anomalously warm temperatures this weekend over theheart of the country will warm up even more heading into the work week.Forecast highs Monday and Tuesday will soar as much as 30-45 degrees abovelate February averages. It will feel more like Spring across theNorthern/Central Plains and Midwest with highs in the 60s and 70s. For theSouthern Plains, the conditions will be more early Summer-like anddownright hot for February. Highs will range from the low 80s to as hot asthe mid-90s in southern Texas. Needless to say, these highs all across thePlains and Midwest will be at daily record-tying/breaking levels, in somecases by several degrees. A few February monthly records may also betied/broken. The warmth in addition to dry conditions and gusty windsacross the Southern High Plains has resulted in a Critical Risk of FireWeather (level 2/3) from the Storm Prediction Center Monday, likely tocontinue into Tuesday. While not as anomalous, temperatures will bewarming well above average for the East Coast as well, with highs into the40s and 50s for New England, 50s and 60s for the Mid-Atlantic, 60s and 70sfor the Carolinas, and 70s and 80s for the Southeast and Florida. However,these temperatures will be short lived for some areas, as the anomalouswarmth makes a cold front associated with the western storm system pushinginto the Northern Plains Tuesday that much more notable as temperaturesplummet into the teens and 20s. The return to Winter will spread furthersouth and eastward Wednesday just beyond the current forecast period.As this storm system over the West continues eastward into thePlains/Midwest Tuesday, moist southerly flow ahead of the cold front willbring increasing shower and thunderstorm chances to the Midwest/GreatLakes.  Strong low-level and upper-level dynamics will lead to the risk ofsome more potent thunderstorms with the potential for some locally heavyrainfall as well as severe weather. The Storm Prediction Center hasoutlined a Slight Risk of severe weather (level 2/5) for the risk of largehail, damaging winds, and a few tornadoes. This threat will ramp up lateTuesday afternoo