Some Wintry Weather Overnight, Then Changeable Through the Weekend

An Alberta Clipper will bring a round of wintry weather to Greater Nebraska overnight into Wednesday morning, along with windy conditions.

As of 4pm CST, the Clipper was located over northeastern Wyoming and is dropping quickly southeastward, and will be over northeastern Colorado later this evening, then move east-southeastward across Kansas Thursday before reaching southern Missouri Thursday evening. Yesterday, I thought that this system would pass right over Greater Nebraska, which would cause the heaviest precipitation on the order of a quarter inch or so to fall over our northern zones such as Valentine. However, the track has shifted southward so the heaviest precipitation will likely fall across our central and southern zones. However, all areas will see some rain and snow, with the possibility of some accumulation just about anywhere, especially on grassy surfaces.

Rain that is falling across Greater Nebraska now will continue into the overnight, but as colder air moves in later a changeover to snow will occur, first over areas in the Panhandle around or just before midnight, then progressing eastward after midnight. As temperatures fall into the 20’s, the snow will begin to accumulate some especially on grassy areas, and some roads, and especially bridges and overpasses could become slick by morning. Accumulations should range from very little over our extreme northern areas, to perhaps an inch or two over the remainder of the region, with maybe a localized higher amount in Garden and Deuel Counties. Again, most of this will be on grassy surfaces, but watch for some slick roads late. It will also become quite windy overnight with northerly winds gusting up and over 30mph, so there could be some blowing snow especially across the Sandhills.

There could be some lingering snow showers tomorrow morning along with some slick spots, but skies should turn partly sunny by afternoon with highs approaching 40. Winds will continue quite gusty but begin to diminish later in the afternoon.

Then Thursday will turn breezy again but milder conditions will return with highs well into the 50’s with plenty of sun.

A cold front will then move through the region probably dry Thursday night, and Friday and the weekend will be fair with cooler highs in the 40’s.

But some very cold arctic air will be situated over the Northern Rockies and Plains, and exactly where the arctic boundary sets up will have a major impact on our weather, especially Sunday and Monday. If the boundary shifts south across the region, highs in the 20’s and lows in the single digits to near zero would be the rule, with perhaps some snow. However, right now it looks like this boundary will stay just to our north, but this could change so stay tuned. Regardless, it appear that the boundary will most likely move south of Greater Nebraska by Tuesday, bringing much colder temperatures and perhaps some snow just in time for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Mike