Turning up the heat to “extreme” Friday and this weekend

It’s about to get excessively hot around here – and fast!

We first start to crank up the heat on Thursday with afternoon temperatures heating up to the middle 90s.

Even hotter temperatures are about to move in from the west, some up to almost the triple digits even today in southwest Nebraska.

There is a small risk of severe weather *IF* storms manage to form in central Nebraska. There are models that say these won’t even materialize at all.

But the chance is there, and if they do, there’s a small risk for some hail up to the size of quarters and wind gusts up to 60 mph. As they move east with time in the early evening, they’ll likely fall apart just after sunset tonight.

Back to the main story though, heat alerts have been issued for Friday and this weekend (June 20-22, 2025).

An Excessive Heat Watch will be in effect for the eastern half of the state from Friday morning through Sunday evening, for heat indices that could be up to 110° in spots.

A Heat Advisory will be in effect for areas of central and western Nebraska by Friday morning through Saturday night. Out that way, heat indices could be up around 100-105° late this week.

These are our first forecasted days of the year expected to hit the triple digits.

These heat alerts mean that we’re in for high humidity with these hot temperatures, too. The winds will be rather strong with southerly gusts up around 40-45 mph possible Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The HeatRisk map by the National Weather Service will be either in the “Major” category for Friday (dangerous for most people), but the “Extreme” category for Saturday and Sunday (dangerous for anyone and can be deadly).

Ways to beat the heat and remain safe through the weekend include:

• Reducing time in the sun (especially during the afternoon)
• Stay hydrated
• Move activities to cooler hours of the day
• If you don’t have access to A/C, use fans to keep the air moving and open your windows overnight
• Check in on elderly, loved ones and pets

Relief from the heat will come from an active period developing next week with storm chances starting Monday but especially cooling to the 80s by Tuesday.

Meteorologist Jessica Blum 
Twitter: JessicaBlumWx 
Facebook: JessicaBlumWx 
Bluesky: JessicaBlumWx 
YouTube: JessicaBlumWx