April snowstorm to hit Nebraska

A Spring snow storm is on the way for much of Nebraska today. Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories in effect through Friday morning.

Snow is already falling in the Panhandle and will continue to spread east, mainly along the I-80 corridor. We should start to see snow falling in eastern Nebraska by mid-morning.

But, Storm Alert Team Meteorologist Liz Whalley says here’s where things get tricky: the models are in disagreement still this morning. Some have rain mixing in, others, all snow. So what will win out?

“Our short term models, which generally, are fairly accurate, are mixing in rain during the afternoon as temperatures will be above freezing,” Whalley said. “If this scenario happens, we’ll see much lower snow amounts.”

If it remains all snow as some models are predicting, higher amounts are expected. 3-5″ could be possible. Models also hinting at heavy banding setting up in southeastern Nebraska. Areas in those bands could see locally higher amounts. Snow totals will vary, over a small distance. Any shifting will drastically change who sees a lot of snow and who doesn’t.

So, what we do know? There will be some melting. Air and ground temperatures are above freezing so initially the snow will melt on contact making forecasting accumulations difficult. The snow that does fall and accumulate will be wet, heavy snow.

“If you don’t have to shovel–don’t,” Whalley said. “It’ll start melting away by the weekend.”

Check back throughout the day for the latest updates from the Storm Alert Team throughout this ever changing storm.