A few more rounds of morning storms

UPDATE – 12 p.m. Monday:

Canadian wildfire smoke remains in place, producing a hazy appearance to the sky. The smoke is also hanging out close to ground level, producing air quality concerns. An Air Quality Alert has been issued for central and eastern Nebraska and will expire at 12 a.m. Tuesday.

Air quality may reach levels unhealthy for sensitive groups on Monday, including those with heat/lung diseases, older adults, and children. These groups should limit time outdoors. Fortunately, it does appear that air quality issues due to smoke should diminish on Tuesday.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Eastern Nebraska saw scattered thunderstorms early Monday. Storms continue will continue to occur for much of the morning, with a few cells being strong to severe. However, these will be operating on a scattered basis. So while not everyone ends up seeing rain, we will be dodging these storms through the first part of the day.

While a spotty shower or storm can’t totally be ruled out through lunchtime or the first few hours of the afternoon, rain chances diminish through the second half of the day. By late afternoon, we anticipate mostly clear skies. You will still likely notice some degree of haze from wildfire smoke. We’re forecasting high temperatures in the low-80s in Lincoln on Monday.

While we’ll be mostly clear through the evening hours, more storms will develop in the High Plains by Monday evening. Those will move east and southeast overnight and into Tuesday morning. These could arrive in southeast Nebraska early Tuesday. As a result, we’re including a morning storm chance on Tuesday.

A few of the storms on Tuesday morning could be strong. Large hail seems to be the primary concern, along with damaging winds in a few cases. A slight (Level 2/5) risk for severe weather is in place in northern Nebraska for Monday night’s storms. The slight risk zone also extends into parts of southeast Nebraska, including Lincoln.

The shower and storm activity generally tapers off into Tuesday afternoon. We’re not necessarily done with rain chances after that, however. We’ll also feature another isolated storm chance on Wednesday.

Meteorologist Malcolm Byron

Facebook: /mbyronwx

Twitter: @mbyronwx