Storm will bring snow to southeast Nebraska, could mess up Thursday morning commute

It is going to not only feel like winter, but look like winter around southeast Nebraska over the next 48 hours.  Snow is expected to arrive Wednesday evening and leave several inches on the ground by Thursday morning.

Winter Storm Watches (blue), Winter Storm Warnings (pink), and Winter Weather Advisories (purple) have been issued in advance of the weather system coming to Nebraska.

Snow will start to fall in the Nebraska panhandle Tuesday night.  The snow will spread eastward/southeastward through the state overnight.

While snowflakes could start falling through the afternoon, I am not expecting accumulating snow to arrive in southeast Nebraska until Wednesday afternoon/evening.  Accumulating snow could first start in Grand Island, Hastings, and Kearney as early as noon Wednesday.  In Lincoln, it is looking like accumulating snow should start to fall on the backend of the evening commute.

The snow looks to be heaviest between midnight and 8 a.m. Thursday.  This should have an impact for the Thursday morning commute as things should be messy.  Snow should quickly taper off late Thursday morning through early afternoon.  In fact, we may even see the sun pop out by late afternoon.

Temperatures will be cold enough throughout the atmospheric column for just snow to fall.  That’s good news as we don’t have to worry about icy roads.

HOW MUCH SNOW

There is still some uncertainty amongst computer models as to the track and amount of precipitation will be available for the storm.  Trends through the day suggest the track is shifting further south and southeast.  However, I am still expecting much of the Channel 8 viewing area to receive snow.

As of Tuesday evening I am thinking areas of the Channel 8 viewing area could receive anywhere from nothing to as much as 9″ of snow by Thursday afternoon.  Yeah, that is quite a range!  That is partly due to the track shifting further south.

As previously mentioned, this will be an all snow event which makes things a little easier to forecast.  Typically, you hear us talking about the “normal” snow being a 10:1 ratio.  Meaning 10″ of snow is produced from 1″ of water.  Due to temperatures at the surface and aloft I am thinking this should be a a little fluffier snow with a 14:1 to 18:1 snow to water ratio.

Areas south of I-80, closer to the Nebraska/Kansas state line will likely be the high snow total winners.  Along and north of I-80 will see a quick drop in the amount of snow.  In Lancaster County alone, the range could be from 3″ north to 7″ south.  Go further south to Beatrice and I think we’re talking 5″ to 8″.  Further southeast, Fall City could end up with 6″ to 9″.

This forecast is far from set in stone.  This is just how it looks as of Tuesday afternoon.  Be sure to check back online, along with on-air for further forecasts.  Meteorologist Brittany Foster will have updates from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. and at 11 a.m.  I’ll be on Channel 8 News at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. with additional updates.

– Chief Meteorologist John Dissauer