The beginning of the end for our heat wave

COOLER AIR ARRIVES

After a prolonged stretch of heat, we are finally transitioning to a cooler pattern. Temperatures will cool from north to south on Friday as a cold front passes. Even so, it’ll still be a hot day for many.

Highs on Friday will back off slightly in Lincoln, with middle to upper-90s possible. Meanwhile, temperatures may inch closer to 100° in our southern communities. It will be a touch cooler farther north. We should mention that if the front ends up moving slower, it is possible to see highs make a run for 100° in Lincoln.

The hottest air will be in the southeast corner of the state. For that reason, the Excessive Heat Warning has been extended through Friday evening for Lincoln, Omaha, and points southeast.

Oddly enough, the humidity will get worse before it gets better. This is because more moisture will “pool” around the cold front. As a result, heat indices may push 105° across southeast Nebraska. In the most extreme cases, heat indices may push 110°.

Everyone will be on the cool side of things this weekend, where high temperatures back off into the 80s on both Saturday and Sunday.

RAIN CHANCES ALSO ARRIVE

Northern Nebraska has been dealing with scattered showers and storms as early as Thursday, and those have persisted into early Friday morning. As our cold front continues to push south, so do the rain chances. Scattered storms are possible at any point on Friday.

There’s an outside chance that one or two cells become strong. The primary concern would be damaging wind gusts upwards of 60 mph. We do not expect a lot of severe weather, which is why the Storm Prediction Center has placed southern Nebraska only under a Level 1/5 risk for severe storms.

Most computer model guidance shows a few lingering showers south of I-80 into Saturday morning, before drying things out. I’m more inclined to think that we’ll dry things out for the second half of Saturday as a result.

Meteorologist Malcolm Byron

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Twitter: @mbyronwx