Clouds return to close out the holiday weekend

Christmas of 2021 will go down as one of the warmer ones on record. While high temperatures were slightly cooler compared to Christmas Eve, temperatures still made it past the 50° mark. We topped out at 54° in Lincoln, all accompanied by lots of sunshine.

Unfortunately, the clouds return late Saturday. We’ll likely be waking up to an overcast landscape on Sunday morning. How cool we get on Sunday morning will in large part depend on what time these clouds arrive. It’s one of those situations where if they arrive 1-2 hours later than anticipated, we may get a little cooler than our forecast low of 25°.

An upper-level disturbance passes through the area on Sunday. Stormcast suggests the possibility of a sprinkle or two on Sunday morning in southeast Nebraska. If they are successful in developing, they’ll be pretty inconsequential and won’t amount to much, if anything.

Despite the chance of an isolated sprinkle in the morning, we’re dry for the afternoon. We should remain cloudy for most of Sunday, with high temperatures reaching the low to mid-50s.

A cold front passes through the area on Sunday night. As a result, temperatures start to drop on Monday, and the mercury will continue to fall through mid-week.

Another disturbance arrives on Tuesday morning. While the bulk of the precipitation should fall to our east, some computer models place a few locations in eastern Nebraska close to the edge of the precipitation shield. In other words, those closer to the Missouri River might be able to see a light wintry mix on Tuesday morning. Chances of seeing this drop off dramatically as you head farther west.

Our coolest day appears to be on Wednesday, and we can’t rule out an isolated flurry or two late Wednesday night. After that, we appear dry through Near Year’s Eve until our next weather maker arrives on New Year’s Day.

Meteorologist Malcolm Byron

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