Weather Underground Forecast for Wednesday, January 11, 2012. The storm system in the lower Mississippi Valley will lift northeastward Wednesday. Moderate to heavy rain with scattered thunderstorms is expected from the lower Mississippi Valley and Southeast northeastward across much of the Eastern U.S. Higher elevations of the Appalachians can expect a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow. Meanwhile, a strong cold front is expected to sag southeastward across the Central U.S. and bring a very cold air mass with it. Behind this cold front, scattered snow showers are expected to develop over portions of the Northern Plains and across the Upper Midwest, reaching the Ohio Valley by Thursday morning. Another area of snow showers can be found over the Rockies. Apart from the precipitation, strong winds are likely to develop behind the cold front as well across much of the Central U.S. Northwest winds are expected to increase to 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 50 mph. These strong winds combined with the much colder air mass will produce windchill readings in the single digits and teens. By Thursday, this cold front will merge with the storm system over the East Coast and bring very active weather across the Midwest and East Coast. Out West, another dry and mild day is in store for the West Coast Wednesday as a ridge of high pressure remains remains in place. Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Tuesday have ranged from a morning low of -9 degrees at Kremmling, Colo. to a high of 84 degrees at Crystal River, Fla.