Isolated Storms Tonight, Then A Sunny And Pleasant Weekend

The weather forecast is relatively straightforward with high pressure and fair weather with near to above average temperatures governing into from now into most if not all of next week. The only potential problem will come tonight in the form of isolated thunderstorms.

A front and a disturbance dropping southeastward from Montana and Wyoming this evening will cross Greater Nebraska overnight. These systems have enough energy and moisture to produce some isolated storms beginning around sunset and ending a few hours after midnight. While no widespread storms are expected, any storm that does develop could become strong or even locally severe with large hail, damaging wind gusts, and briefly heavy rainfall. Skies overall with be partly cloudy and lows will fall into the 40’s.

But by tomorrow morning, skies will have cleared, and sunshine and breezy conditions will govern during Saturday with highs generally in the 70’s, though northern areas may stay in the 60’s for most of the day.

Today is the average date for the first freeze around North Platte, and since the lowest temperature thus far has been 34 on the 7th of this month, there has not been a freeze yet, and it looks likely that no freezes will occur for about the next week. However, lows Sunday morning may fall into the 30’s in some areas, and it is possible that some frost could develop locally under clear skies and light winds.
Sunday will be another sunny day with highs generally in the 70’s.

Nationally, a deep trough centered over the Tennessee Valley, and an upper-level ridge of high pressure over the Intermountain Region, will develop beginning this weekend, and this general pattern will persist through next week. Greater Nebraska will be in the proverbial middle meaning a northwesterly upper-level flow will govern into Monday. However, the ridge may expand eastward beginning Monday, and if this occurs temperatures will once again get to summer-like levels in the 80’s, and perhaps even the middle to upper 80’s by Wednesday, so no really cold, fall-like weather is foreseen for the next week.

So for this evening’s local football, conditions will be partly cloudy but watch for an isolated storm with temperatures in the middle 70’s, falling into the 60’s during the games.

And for the Big Red Homecoming game tomorrow evening with kickoff at 6pm CT, most showers and storms which may affect Lincoln tomorrow due to the same system affecting us tonight should be exiting to the east by game-time, so expect mostly cloudy skies with temperature in the middle 60’s with light east-southeasterly winds.

Mike