June-like temperatures may lead to June-like storms for southeast Nebraska

A strong weather system will move through the central United States on Tuesday.

It will produce a cold front that will swing through Nebraska in the afternoon and evening, which will bring summerlike temperatures and a threat for strong to severe thunderstorms.

Temperatures won’t drop much overnight, with lows in the 40s.  Winds will start to increase, gusting at times to 35 mph.

Clouds will start to increase near daybreak Tuesday, and skies will likely remain mostly cloudy for a big part of Tuesday morning as a warm front moves through southeast Nebraska.

There will also be a chance for a few light showers as the front passes.  The front should lift north of the area by early afternoon, and skies should begin to clear.  This is when temperatures should start to soar.

Highs should top out in the middle – and in some cases the upper – 80s by late afternoon (4 p.m. and later).  That will make it feel more like a mid-June day as opposed to a mid-April day.

Winds will also be strong throughout the day: sustained 12 to 23 mph and gusts to 50 mph.

Humidity will also increase through the afternoon.  For this, we look at dew point temperatures, or the measure of low-level moisture in the air.  Dew points are projected to climb into the mid-50s for the southeast corner of the state.  Combined with temperatures in the 80s, instability will quickly climb through the afternoon, reaching moderate to high levels.

Winds through the atmospheric column will also be changing direction with height, so any thunderstorms that fire up will have the ability to rotate.

All we need now is a trigger to start the thunderstorms.  That will come in the form of the cold front earlier mentioned.

There still is some question as to the exact location of storm initiation, but at this time, it looks like that could happen along a line from Ashland to Beatrice by late afternoon/early evening, give or take 30-50 miles east/west of that line.  I am bracketing the hours of 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. for the window for strong to severe thunderstorms.

As the line progresses east, the storms will quickly intensify.  The main threat from the thunderstorms will be damaging wind and large hail.  Because of the winds through the atmospheric column, a few tornadoes cannot be ruled out.  If a tornado does form, a strong tornado is also not out of the question.

Be sure to take a few minutes with yourself, and your family, to go over where you should go if a Tornado Warning is issued for your location.  It is also a good idea to check your NOAA Weather Radio to make sure it is turned on and able to receive a signal from the transmitter.

Also, be sure to check back here on klkntv.com, on air, and on social media with my fellow meteorologists Brittany Foster (Twitter: @BrittFosterWX) and Malcolm Byron (Twitter: @mbyronwx) and myself (Twitter: @JohnDissauer) throughout the day for updates.

– Chief Meteorologist John Dissauer