Blizzard Warning in place as snow, high winds move in early Wednesday
We are quickly going to go from nearing 80 degrees this Tuesday to blizzard conditions by Wednesday morning (March 18-19, 2025).
There will be quite the range in temperatures already across the state on Tuesday. But for southeast Nebraska, we’ll be in for another warm one – almost up to 80 degrees again.
Ahead of the snow, isolated storms will be possible late Tuesday night. There is a Marginal (Level 1 of 5) risk over eastern Nebraska for a storm or two (mainly north of Lincoln) that may bring up to 1″ hail as the main threat.
The window to see a storm or two become severe (as seen below near Columbus from this version of Stormcast) will be after midnight through 4 a.m. Wednesday. The snow marches east not far behind as this is happening.
Lincoln and much of Nebraska have now been upgraded to a Blizzard Warning (red) in effect late Tuesday night through Wednesday evening. Travel will be very difficult, if not IMPOSSIBLE.
- Widespread blowing snow will significantly reduce visibility
- Be prepared for parts of I-80 to potentially be shut down as we’ve seen before in blizzards
- Hazardous conditions will impact both the morning and evening commutes
There will be a sharp cut-off in snow amounts through southeast Nebraska for those under a Winter Weather Advisory (purple).
Toward Ainsworth, North Platte and Hayes Center out west, a Winter Storm Warning (pink) will be in place through Wednesday afternoon – not quite meeting the criteria for a Blizzard Warning.
All of these things need to be in the forecast for a Blizzard Warning to be issued (all of this expected on Wednesday):
Here’s the latest timing from Stormcast for the snow and blizzard conditions to move into your area:
High winds will be a significant problem the entire time the snow is also falling. Sustained winds during that time will be about 35-45 mph.
From early Wednesday morning WELL INTO the evening hours, gusts will be up around 55-65 mph. The timing of these wind gusts hour by hour can be seen in the video below.
A High Wind Warning will be in effect starting Tuesday evening out west or late Tuesday night for eastern Nebraska, lasting through Wednesday evening.
These strong winds could mean damage to trees and power lines with scattered power outages.
Snowfall amounts are not the main part of this forecast. It will be another snow event that will be hard to measure, with big drifts possible.
There will be a significant cut-off in a lot of snow versus no snow southeast of Lincoln toward Missouri and Kansas.
Meteorologist Jessica Blum
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