Winds Will Diminish Tonight, Then Pleasant Into Weekend

There is no doubt today was a very windy day! Wind gusts of 61 mph were reported at Big Springs in Deuel County, and many areas reported winds gusting in excess of 50mph. In addition, snow showers were reported in Valentine this afternoon, so certainly it was a day to remind us that winter is getting closer. Highs were generally in the 40’s, just touching 50 in North Platte, but held mostly in the 30’s in Valentine.

The massive storm that caused the winds is now over Ontario, Canada and is slowly weakening and moving northeastward toward Hudson Bay. Yesterday, the storm broke all-time low pressure records in Minnesota and Wisconsin, with the lowest (29.21 inches) occurring in Bigfork, MN in extreme northern Minnesota. The storm also produced severe weather yesterday and today from the Great Lakes southward to the Ohio Valley eastward to the Mid-Atlantic, where tornadoes caused at least a couple of injuries, and damage to property. Blizzard conditions raged over North Dakota where a half-foot or more of snow was accompanied by winds gusting upward to 70mph. But the strong winds were widespread from the Northern/Central Plains eastward through the Great Lakes to Ohio Valley.

Across Greater Nebraska, tonight will come mostly clear later, and the wind will diminish late with cold lows in the 20’s.

Then a pleasant stretch of weather will start Thursday with mostly sunny skies, light winds and highs near 60.

Friday and Saturday will be sunny and very pleasant with highs near 70, though nights will be clear and chilly with lows in the 20’s and low 30’s.

Halloween Sunday is looking fair and breezy at this point with sunshine and highs in the 60’s. However, a developing low to our east will be watched to see if it will throw any moisture back into Greater Nebraska. Even if that occurs, any precipitation should be quite light.

Mike