Significant severe storms possible in eastern Nebraska Friday afternoon

A TORNADO WATCH is in place through 7:00pm, April 26, 2024. Please be weather aware today.

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Additional rounds of thunderstorms are expected through the weekend, and at times they will be severe. We’re closely watching especially Friday afternoon right now for significant severe weather: an important timeframe to stay alert and be prepared for tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING – EASTERN NEBRASKA

An Enhanced (Level 3 – orange) risk in place over eastern Nebraska includes Lincoln and Omaha for storms expected after about 2 p.m. Friday afternoon.

Any storms that manage to develop will be capable of producing strong tornadoes (EF2 or higher), large hail (up to 3″) and damaging wind (gusts up to 70 mph). Each threat for eastern Nebraska can be seen below.

Stormcast has these storms starting up after about 2 p.m. Friday and lasting into the evening, racing north and east.

One of the bigger keys to the severe weather potential today will be clearing cloud cover to allow for more heating. Any storms that do manage organize will pose a damaging threat overall as they rapidly intensify. This severe threat will be one that friends and family need to know about.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON/NIGHT – SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA

More severe weather is expected in southeast Nebraska after about 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon onward. Right now, the severe threat increases the farther south and east you go in Nebraska, with Beatrice, Falls City and Pawnee City included in an Enhanced (Level 3 of 5) risk.

All severe weather threats will be possible – very large hail (up to 3″), damaging winds (up to 70 mph) and a few strong tornadoes particularly for those included in the orange above.

Stormcast below shows storms starting up around that 3 p.m. timeframe in southeast Nebraska. These will move northeast, increasing in coverage Saturday night into early Sunday.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING – SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA

The severe threat diminishes with another round of storms on Sunday. At this point, there is a Marginal (Level 1) risk for most of southeast Nebraska for hail up to 1″, gusts up to 60 mph and a low-end tornado threat for Sunday afternoon into the evening.

Then, we’re expecting much quieter day on Monday before some weaker storms possible Tuesday and Wednesday.

Meteorologist Jessica Blum 
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