Mild then the Polar Express
The next few days will feature a nice thaw with temperatures climbing into the 40's statewide tomorrow, with 50's likely in southwest Nebraska. Temperatures will remain mild (40's) on Friday, albeit a little cooler, especially in western Nebraska. As upper-level ridging builds toward Alaska, this will lead to downstream troughing into the central U.S. At the surface, this means a strong arctic front pushes through the state Friday night into Saturday morning bringing sharply colder temperatures for all this weekend into early next week.
By Saturday afternoon most of the state will be in the mid teens to low 20's and Sunday/Monday look colder still. Single digit highs are likely on Sunday and Monday in the northern third of the state with highs ranging from 10-15F in the southern two-thirds of the state. Winds will be relatively strong and gusty from the north on Saturday and will remain in the 10-15 mph range on Sunday and Monday. Wind chills likely will dip to 20 below Sunday-Tuesday morning everywhere with wind chill values of 30-35 below probable in the northern part of the state on Monday morning. Everyone should spend at least one morning below zero with this shot of cold air.
Some thawing
By Tuesday the coldest air will start to push east of the state with temperatures getting back into the 20's and 30's. High temperatures in the 30's are likely next Wednesday and Thursday with lows being closer to seasonal levels in the single digits and teens above zero. Another reinforcement of cold temperatures looks likely toward the end of next week, just in time for the weekend.
Panhandle snow- mostly dry for everyone else
A shortwave moving southeast over the Rockies will bring fresh powder to the ski slopes in Colorado and the eastern extent of the snow should give the western Panhandle an inch of snow between Friday night and Saturday morning. While snow amounts are not going to be significant, winds of 20-30 mph will make blowing snow likely. Be careful if traveling west of Sidney. The rest of the state will get to experience the cold without the snow this weekend. Next week looks dry through Friday. It is possible we could be entering into a more active pattern by next weekend, which means increased chances of snow- especially for western Nebraska. No major snowstorms are looming on the horizon but it is possible that we may start seeing more regular snowfall across the state toward the end of the month. Winter was mostly non-existent in December but it appears that it is going to last longer than two weeks, unlike last year.
Eric Hunt, University of Nebraska
