Mild and dry weather for Friday and the weekend; wet weather looming early next week

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - As we head into the day on Friday, quieter weather is on tap across the state as we should see mild and dry conditions to finish the week and into the last weekend of the year. Look for a mix of sun and clouds through the day, with the potential for areas of fog across parts of central and eastern Nebraska through the morning hours. Winds should turn from the west to the south into the afternoon at 5 to 15 MPH.

Temperatures will be above average as we look to close out the year. Starting with low temperatures on Friday morning, we should see temperatures drop to the upper teens to low 20s.

Afternoon highs for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday all look to be pretty pleasant and should help melt any snow left on the ground. Look for temperatures each afternoon to settle into the upper 30s to upper 40s - fairly pleasant for late December and early January.

The weather begins to potentially turn unsettled again as we head Sunday night and into early next week. There are many details left to be figured out though as long range models currently have very little agreement in the track of a potential winter storm that could impact the area through the first half of the week next week. The European model takes a more southerly track with the low, spreading rain and snow across the state from Sunday night through the day on Monday, with snow finally ending from west to east by late Tuesday night. If this model solution were to verify, it could lead to areas of heavy snow across parts of central and western Nebraska, with the potential for rain and maybe even some rumbles of thunder for parts of eastern and southeastern Nebraska.

The American GFS model takes a much more northerly track with that system, which would put much of the coverage area in the dry slot, leading to generally dry weather. Areas of heavy snow would be confined to far western Nebraska, eastern Wyoming, and into the Dakotas with rain and thunderstorms possible further to our east in Iowa and Missouri.

Both models have been remarkably consistent in their disagreement over the past several days, so this timeframe will need to continue to be monitored as there are still a wild range of possibilities for the forecast.

The extended forecast offers us cooler, more seasonal temperatures in the wake of that early week system with high temperatures falling back to the low to mid 30s for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

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