Heavy snow continues into tonight for the Central Rockies and adjacentfoothills/High Plains before gradually tapering off through Friday. A long-duration event of mountain snow and lower-elevation rainexpected over the Four Corners region into the weekend.Severe thunderstorms and excessive rainfall expected to pushsoutheastward from the Southern Plains/Mississippi Valley Thursday eveningfurther into Texas and the Southeast region on Friday, continuing in TexasSaturdayMild weather continues from the central to the eastern U.S. going intothe weekendAn amplifying upper-level trough/closed low continues to dig southwardinto the western U.S. with a cold airmass settling in across the region.Moisture flowing in ahead of the trough continues to lead to very heavysnow over portions of the Central Rockies into the adjacent High Plains,particularly along the Front Range. Snow rates upwards of 2"/hr will bringseveral more inches of snow through tonight with storm total snowfall of1-2 feet, locally as much as 2-4 feet. Gusty winds leading to blowing snowwill make travel very dangerous to impossible, with many of the localinterstates already closed. The snow should begin to gradually taper offThursday night and into Friday morning. Snowfall will then shift a bit tothe southwest over the Four Corners region as the upper-low settles inoverhead for the next couple of days. Waves of heavy snow will bring 12"+of snowfall to the higher elevations of the regional mountain ranges intothis weekend. Lower elevations of the Four Corners will see a mix of rainand snow, though any accumulations should remain limited, with rain alsospreading to the Desert Southwest. Some thunderstorms will also bepossible. Precipitation chances should continue at least through Saturdayevening.To the east, widespread showers and thunderstorms will continue along andhead of a wavy cold front stretching from the Great Lakes/Midwestsouthwestward through the Middle Mississippi Valley and into the SouthernPlains. The Storm Prediction Center has outlined an Enhanced Risk ofsevere weather (level 3/5) from north Texas northeastward into easternOklahoma, northwestern Arkansas, and southern Missouri through tonightwhere the best combination of strong buoyancy and both low-level anddeep-layer wind shear are expected to lead to some supercell storms.Storms will likely begin to cluster into the evening bringing more of alarge hail and damaging wind threat, though a few tornadoes will remainpossible with any remaining discrete/semi-discrete storms, including thepotential for a strong tornado. A broader Slight Risk (level 2/5) is inplace from the Southern Plains northeastward through the MiddleMississippi Valley/Mid-South and into the Ohio Valley where some moreisolated instances of large hail, damaging winds, and a few tornadoes arepossible. In addition, a southerly influx of deep moisture from the Gulfof Mexico along with storms clustering/motions increasingly parallel tothe frontal boundary will bring the threat of some very heavy downpoursand the risk of scattered instances of flash flooding, with a Slight Riskof Excessive Rainfall (level 2/4) overlapping the Enhanced severe risk,and continuing downstream into the Mid-South as storms move eastwardovernight.Elsewhere, a clipper system dropping southeastward from Canada into theUpper Midwest/Great Lakes by Friday evening will bring some light tomoderate rain/snow shower chances into Saturday. Temperature-wise, aboveaverage highs will continue to bring an early taste of Spring to most ofthe central and eastern U.S. heading into the weekend.