Happy Monday to the NSCO community! Let's jump into last week's trends for the state of Nebraska! We started this past week with much cooler conditions across eastern Nebraska as a stalled frontal boundary sat southeast of I-80, producing on-and-off showers and a few elevated thunderstorms mainly along and south of I-80 on Monday (Oct 6). Where skies cleared throughout Tuesday morning, low temperatures fell into the upper 30s and low to mid-40s as well. Overall, midweek temperatures trended slightly upward with a developed southerly flow, bringing highs from the 60s into the 70s and into the 80s throughout the state later into the week.
Upper-level flow evolved from a high-pressure pattern over the West Coast early in the week, which evolved into a ridge over the southern Rockies. A shortwave moving across western Nebraska on Monday enhanced shower activity, but with weak instability aloft. 850 mb levels showed southerly low-level flow strengthening later in the week, which advected warmer, drier low-level air from the Southwest into eastern Nebraska throughout the week. By the weekend, 500mb heights increased as the ridge amplified, supporting subsidence and the warmer, drier conditions observed from Friday to Sunday.
A stationary front earlier in the week kept cooler, cloudier conditions across the southeast with the lower temperatures experienced throughout the state. That boundary shifted off to the southeast by Tuesday as that high-pressure system moved through, allowing clearing and light northerly winds overnight. A weak front associated with a shortwave crossed the area Thursday, producing brief showers or sprinkles, with the moisture profiles generally being shallow, and much of Thursday to Friday remained dry because of dry low-level air.
Precipitation was mostly concentrated on Monday with on-and-off showers, then dropped to generally light or negligible amounts midweek. Looking forward a bit, we can expect moisture will generally come back late on the weekend and next week with a series of weak disturbances bringing scattered precipitation amounts.
Example extremes observed in the period (illustrative — NOT official station maxima/minima):
Maximum high (example): ~82°F (south central Nebraska Saturday).
Minimum high (example): ~58°F (southeast Monday).
Minimum low (example): upper 30s to low 40s in rural northeast Tuesday morning (patchy frost possible).
Maximum precip (example station): small single-day totals on Oct 6, generally under 0.5".
The week began cool and showery along a stationary boundary and transitioned to a warming trend mid-to-late week as a ridge from a high-pressure system amplified over the Rockies. This coming week, expect increased cloudiness and scattered rainfall chances this Wednesday as a western low-pressure trough moves east through the country.
