The weather on Wednesday will be very similar to the past couple of days with some sunshine and highs in the 40’s to near 50. However, do not expect the remainder of the week to end on a comfortable note.
High pressure over the eastern states remains in control of our weather pattern, and southerly winds continue to allow relatively mild highs during the day, and chilly but not too cold lows at night. Tonight will be partly cloudy with lows falling into the teens to near 20.
During Wednesday, an elongated area of low pressure extending from eastern Montana to eastern Colorado will strengthen to our west, and this will cause southerly winds to strengthen during the afternoon with some gusts approaching 25mph. However, highs under partly sunny skies will once again reach into the 40’s to near 50, so another pleasant day for this time of year.
The Montana low will move eastward, and by Thursday morning be over south-central South Dakota, dragging an arctic front southeastward into Greater Nebraska. Ahead of this front, lows will not fall much Wednesday night, ranging from the middle 20’s to near freezing. However, a bit of moisture could cause some drizzle, which could freeze on some surfaces.
During Thursday morning, the arctic front will push through Greater Nebraska, and northerly winds will strengthen and drag much colder air into the region. Highs will fall throughout the day, reaching the single digits and low teens across the Sandhills, and the middle teens to lower 20’s elsewhere. In addition, there could be some light wintry precipitation behind the front, possibly some freezing rain and sleet, which would change to snow by evening. Although light, this could cause some slick spots. Also, wind chills will begin to drop, making it very uncomfortable.
By Thursday evening, the Colorado low will begin to strengthen and drop southeastward to the Oklahoma Panhandle, and this is where things could become quite dangerous. Snow should become steadier Thursday evening, then continue into the day on Friday as the low moves across Kansas into southeastern Nebraska during Friday.
In addition, northerly winds will strengthen further, with gusts approaching 35 to perhaps 40mph, which will cause blowing of any snow. Also, lows will fall to below zero across much of the area, perhaps staying just above zero over southwestern areas Thursday night, then only recover to around zero in the Sandhills to the single digits and low teens elsewhere Friday. Wind chills from the minus teens to perhaps as low as minus 30 will occur during this time. This will make it quite dangerous to be outside for any length of time.
As for snow accumulations, right now it looks like a general 3 to 6 inches will fall, with the lower amounts over southern areas like Imperial, North Platte and Lexington, with the higher amounts across the Sandhills and Panhandle. This will make travel quite dangerous, especially since holiday travelers will be on the road.
Please note that this forecast could change since the storm track and intensity is not set in stone. If the storm is stronger or slows down, or tracks a bit further southeast, we could get more snow. Conversely, if the low tracks further northwest, we could see less snow, especially over southern parts of the viewing area.
Once the storm pulls out Friday night, we will be left with cold temperatures for the New Year, with lows near or below zero and highs only in the teens.
Please stay tuned to News 2 for the latest on this potentially dangerous winter weather.
Mike
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