Quick round of light snow and cold first, then warmer weather on the way
First things first, we have a round of light snow likely by this afternoon into the evening. That is followed up by some stronger winds tonight and much colder air again for Friday and Saturday. BUT, warmer air is lurking by the second half of the weekend and should stick around for a while.
With the light snow, there is a Winter Weather Advisory for north-central and most of eastern Nebraska. North-central Nebraska will have the advisory go into effect by Thursday morning, and the rest of us will have it start by noon Thursday. A few counties were added this morning: Howard, Hamilton and York.
Update as of 10 a.m. Thursday: part of northeast Nebraska was upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning for more snow (~2″+) and high winds (up to 40 mph) expected especially in that area through 6 a.m. Friday.
For Lincoln, the snow is expected to start up around the lunch hour – in and around noon. Accumulating snow will start up past then and quickly wrap up by this evening, with temperatures stalling in the teens. Winds will also pick up as the snow is ending this evening.
Stormcast does a great job of showing the entire picture of this snow coming, beginning to end. Snow starts first in northwest Nebraska early Thursday morning, and then the bulk of it will move southeast into central/northeast Nebraska just before noon. All of it should be coming to an end by about 6 p.m. Thursday.
This is a quick round of snow, only dropping at most a few inches in northeast Nebraska. Everywhere else, mainly 1-2″ and less to the southwest.
The Winter Weather Advisory does go until 6 a.m. Friday for areas of blowing/drifting snow possible overnight and into the morning, once the snow stops. This will again be a light, fluffy snow and northwest wind gusts are expected to pick up to 30-35 mph later tonight.
Those winds will also usher in much colder air again. A Wind Chill Advisory is in place for most of Nebraska starting 6 p.m. Thursday night (tonight) through noon Friday for wind chills as low as 20 to 30 below.
In southeast Nebraska for Friday morning, wind chills will be around 20 to 25 below as the winds start to decrease from the overnight hours.
Then, there’s a Wind Chill Watch for Friday evening into Saturday morning for wind chills as low as 40 below. It does not take long to get frostbite in these dangerous conditions!
Wind chills here at home will be about 25 to 35 below during the morning hours on Saturday, one of the coldest starts of the past couple weeks.
By Sunday, we are faring a lot better and the warmer weather is on the way. Good news: it’s here to stay for a while!
Meteorologist Jessica Blum
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