A windy, and very wet, weekend
A weather system over the southwest United States will have a big impact over the central U.S. this weekend. Moisture will stream north, ahead of the system, giving ample water in the atmosphere to produce a wet weekend for most of Nebraska.
Southeast Nebraska is overdue for precipitation. Thursday is the 12th consecutive day without measurable precipitation in Lincoln.
For those wishing for rain, be careful what you wish for. For several days long range computer models have been suggesting the rain that moves in this weekend could be heavy. That trend continues.
A three computer model average suggests 2.93″ of rain could fall on the capital city Saturday through Sunday evening. To put that in perspective, Lincoln averages 0.06″ of precipitation March 12 and March 13. That means we could be looking at roughly 24x the normal precipitation by Sunday evening!
While it appears the precipitation will all be liquid for southeast Nebraska, if you have plans to travel to far western Nebraska, Colorado, or southeast Wyoming this weekend you might want to think twice. It will be in these areas where cold air will mix with moisture in the air and produce a significant winter storm.
Portions of extreme western Nebraska could see anywhere from 3″ to 18″ of snow by Sunday evening. Parts of Colorado could have anywhere from a few inches to 2 feet of snow and southeast Wyoming could end up with as much as 1.5 feet to 2 feet of snow.
FRIDAY: Mostly cloudy. Scattered afternoon and evening showers will be possible near the Nebraska/Kansas state line. Some of the showers could make it as far north as a line from Beatrice to Hastings. Highs in the upper 40°s to middle 50°s.
SATURDAY: Cloudy. Rain moves in from the southwest. Highs will be in the upper 40°s to near 50°. Winds will begin to increase Saturday evening.
SUNDAY: Cloudy. Rain, heavy at times. Highs will be in the upper 40°s. It will also be windy with winds gusting 40-50 mph at times.
– Chief Meteorologist John Dissauer
