Strong storms possible on Tuesday, followed by chilly air

October is here! Like September, we see a lot of change through this month as we continue to lose daylight. Average highs and lows will drop by about 15 degrees from start to finish. We also will start to see the sun set before 7:00 p.m. by the end of this week.

It sure hasn’t felt like October just yet, though. Temperatures from the end of last week through the weekend led to record-breaking heat! We officially broke records in Lincoln both Friday and Saturday, then tied the record on Sunday.

By Monday afternoon, we’ll be coming close to records for what would be the fourth day in a row. One more hot one before MAJOR changes are coming.

In talking about those changes, we’ll have a significant weather pattern shift from Monday into Tuesday. That’ll develop a strong system at the surface from the Rockies onto the Plains for some storms by Monday evening out west. There’s a Marginal risk that a few of these storms could be severe with hail and wind the primary concern.

Storms will start up before sunset, moving along a cold front into the Nebraska Panhandle. Areas west of a line from about Valentine to McCook have the best chance of seeing rain and thunderstorms from this. Most of these storms will wrap up by early Tuesday.

That cold front will move east to bring stronger storms to central and eastern Nebraska by Tuesday. A Slight risk includes most of central Nebraska, with Lincoln/Beatrice/Omaha in a Marginal risk as these storms are expected to lose steam as the line moves east Tuesday night. A couple tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds are all possible on Tuesday.

A wide area of Nebraska will see storms develop by the early afternoon. Later, storms will organize into a line along the cold front as they continue to get closer to Lincoln. But after sunset, they’ll lose some strength. Everything should be done by early Wednesday.

Then, take a look at this! We’ll start to feel that chill in the air again by Wednesday morning. Winds from the northwest will drag in a cooler air mass, and temperatures will fall to the 60s by the end of the week!

For those plant lovers, keep a close eye on Saturday morning’s temperatures because we could experience our first frost by then. We’re talking morning lows in the 30s for the first time since the beginning of May.

Meteorologist Jessica Blum 
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