Warmer, drier weather expected this weekend; Wind, rain, and snow looms next week

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - After some wintry weather on Thursday and some cloudy, chilly weather on Friday, we should see sunshine and milder temperatures return for the upcoming weekend. You’ll want to take advantage of the nice weather, because longer range forecasts indicate next week could pack a punch with wind, rain, and snow possible across the coverage area.

Areas of low clouds, fog, and perhaps some drizzle or flurries will continue to be possible across eastern areas of the state tonight and into early on Saturday morning. Nothing measurable is expected for any areas, but it could impact any morning plans you might have. Low clouds should give way to mainly sunny skies though as we head into Saturday afternoon and overall, it should be a nice start to the weekend. More sunshine is then expected into the day on Sunday as well before our next storm system is set to arrive through early next week.

As far as temperatures are concerned, lows into Saturday morning should be pretty typical for early to mid-December with temperatures falling into the teens and 20s by Saturday morning. Any morning plans should include the appropriate winter gear!

By Saturday afternoon, plentiful sunshine should help us warm up nicely with temperatures the low 40s to low 50s from north to south across the state. Areas in northern Nebraska will be a bit cooler with snow still on the ground from Thursday’s system that moved through the area, but much of it will likely melt off during the day on Saturday and what’s left will likely be gone by Sunday afternoon.

Low temperatures into Sunday morning again look pretty standard with readings falling to the mid teens to mid 20s. Afternoon readings should climb a few degrees compared to Saturday, with highs in the mid 40s to mid 50s with the warmest temperatures across western Nebraska.

The extended forecast then turns wet and windy as we head through much of the work week next week. Longer range models - in fairly good agreement at this time - point to a potent system swinging through the Plains that could bring very beneficial soaking rains to parts of central and eastern Nebraska with the potential for some heavy snow across parts of northern and western Nebraska. In fact, we already have Winter Storm Watches that have been posted from late Monday night to early Thursday morning for Cherry and Sheridan Counties in north central Nebraska. This will be a storm system worth keeping an eye on as it looks to be quite wet and whether it’s rain or snow that falls, there could be quite a lot of it. The wind will also be very strong as the low pressure center is forecast to track right through the middle of the state. The combination of wintry conditions and strong winds could certainly lead to some blizzard conditions at times next week - the question we have now is where exactly that will be. Stay tuned!

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