Thursday Forecast: More sunshine and more seasonal January temperatures for Thursday...

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Clouds and some scattered light snow showers have continued to drift across the state on Wednesday and are likely to continue into Wednesday evening, but overall as we head into Thursday and Friday, it looks to be a pretty quiet finish to the first work week of the new year. We’re keeping an eye on some possible snow again early this weekend, but the forecast looks pretty quiet over the course of the next week.

Clouds will hang around through Wednesday evening and Wednesday night, especially for the eastern half of the state. We should see more sunshine by Thursday afternoon as the low-pressure system that’s been spinning away across the region continues to drift off to the east and a weak ridge of high pressure aloft builds over the area. Some areas of fog and low clouds will be possible by late Thursday, particularly over the current snowpack across the state as a little bit of melting snow could add enough moisture to the area to see some fog or low clouds. We should stay dry for the day on Thursday and again for the day on Friday.

Temperatures tonight are forecast to be seasonal for early January with lows in the mid-teens to mid 20s across the region. Factoring in a light breeze though, it will feel a touch colder.

Temperatures by Thursday afternoon should be pretty similar to what we saw on Wednesday and pretty typical of early January. Look for readings to settle into the mid 20s to the mid 30s across the area, with the coldest air residing across northeastern Nebraska where highs won’t get out of the 20s. Again, factoring in a west and northwest wind at around 5 to 15 MPH, feels like temperatures will likely be in the teens and 20s by the afternoon.

The coldest night of the next week will likely come Thursday and into Friday morning with clearing skies and fresh snow still on the ground. Temperatures are forecast to fall into the single digits and teens across the area, with Lincoln seeing a seasonal low temperature of around 15°.

Temperatures will try and bump up a few degrees on Friday, but mainly for southeastern Nebraska where there is no snow on the ground, as highs reach the low to mid 40s by Friday afternoon. The rest of the state will see highs in the 20s and 30s to finish the work week.

We’ll keep an eye on a small system poised to swing through the area Friday night and into the day on Saturday that could bring rain and snow showers and colder temperatures to the area, but otherwise the long-range forecast is pretty quiet. Look for highs in Lincoln in the low 30s to start the weekend on Saturday before temperatures rebound to the low to mid 40s for Sunday and through the first half of the week next week.

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