Dangerous fire weather conditions on Friday

We’ve been looking forward to some awesome weather for Easter weekend as the winds transition out of the south. However, those southerly winds are also transporting smoke into the area from Kansas as of early Friday morning.

This is creating air quality issues in some areas, including Lincoln. Smoke concentrations will likely be strongest in the morning. This is because the air is very stable near the ground, trapping smoke near the surface. We’ll still have some smoke in the area by afternoon, but at a lower concentration as the atmosphere starts stirring around.

Temperatures are much warmer starting out on Friday morning, and we’re looking at highs in the upper-60s to near 70°. We’ll see sunny skies for most of the day.

Red Flag Warnings are also in place from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday across much of the state. The combination of gusty winds and low relative humidities, especially during the afternoon, will create dangerous fire weather conditions. Please refrain from outdoor burning, and be extra cautious if doing anything that might create that initial spark.

Fire weather will also likely be an issue on Saturday. We’ll remain warm through Easter weekend with highs in the 70s on both days. We do expect a few more clouds on Easter Sunday, and there may be some isolated showers.

As we head into next week, we continue to warm. We may end up seeing a few days with highs in the 80s.

Meteorologist Malcolm Byron

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Twitter: @mbyronwx