Blustery, dry conditions elevate fire concerns in Nebraska over next few days

This is our coldest morning in some time with freeze warnings in place, seeing temperatures drop to the lower 20s for the first time in Lincoln since early April. Below is a look at low temperatures as of 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The temperature in Lincoln fell to 23° as the morning low so far for October 16th, coming within a couple degrees of the record low from the 1970s.

This is our only morning going forward that’ll be this chilly. We warm up even by this afternoon thanks to winds increasing out of the south. Winds around southeast Nebraska are expected to be around 30-35 mph through the afternoon and evening.

The worst of the stronger winds will be in central and northern Nebraska with wind gusts on the order of 40-45 mph.

These stronger winds today combined with very dry air and dry vegetation will allow any fire that starts to get out of control quickly. A Red Flag Warning is in effect Wednesday for most of the state during the afternoon and night.

Thursday and potentially Friday we will face similar conditions for elevated fire danger as well. For now, a Fire Weather Watch has been issued for most of the state, likely to be upgraded to a Red Flag Warning by the National Weather Service.

Stronger southerly winds will cause temperatures to warm in the coming days. Moisture will increase in the form of more cloud cover and some spotty showers nearby first Friday afternoon, then mainly west Friday night into Saturday.

Our first better chance for some rain in quite some time looks to be next Monday. In the meantime, besides the high winds, we’ll enjoy these fall temperatures sticking around.

Meteorologist Jessica Blum 
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