A Tornado Watch is in effect for portions of Nebraska

A Tornado Watch continues for portions of central and southeast Nebraska.  The Tornado Watch is in effect until midnight Friday.

Remember that a Tornado Watch means that conditions are favorable for the development of thunderstorms capable of producing a tornado.  It is also the time to prepare ahead of time should a Tornado Warning be issued.

Showers and thunderstorms are developing ahead of a cold front that is moving across Nebraska Thursday evening.  There is a narrow corridor of instability that runs north along Highway 183 between the Kansas/Nebraska state line and I-80.  High resolution computer models suggest the instability should quickly weaken after 8 p.m. Thursday evening.

A line of thunderstorms is expected to reach an area from Lincoln to Hebron by 10 p.m. Thursday.  I’ll keep a chance of rain in through midnight to 1 a.m. Friday morning for the Lincoln area.

As we get further in to the night, the threat for wind and tornadoes will quickly decrease.  The threat will transition to heavy rain, especially if storms travel over the same area.

At this time, it appears the heaviest rain could fall along a narrow corridor between Highway 136 and I-80, where as much as 1″ to 2″ of rain could fall.

– Chief Meteorologist John Dissauer