Wednesday Forecast: Warming back up for the second half of the week

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - After a very nice day to start summer, we’ll see Mother Nature crank the thermometer back up for the rest of the week with temperatures peaking across the state on Friday. We’ll also keep on eye on the potential for two rounds of thunderstorms this week - one on Thursday and another Friday night into Saturday.

Clouds will hang around through Tuesday evening and into the overnight hours with a few sprinkles or spotty showers possible across central Nebraska, most areas though will stay dry. As we head into Wednesday, we’ll continue to hang on to some cloud cover with variable clouds through the day. We won’t rule out a stray shower or two in the afternoon with a stalled out frontal boundary to the south, but more than likely we’ll see dry conditions through the day tomorrow.

Temperatures should be pretty comfortable tonight and into Wednesday morning with overnight lows ranging from the low 50s to the mid 60s across the coverage area. Winds will be out of the northeast, but should become light and variable though the overnight.

We’ll see warmer weather on Wednesday as temperatures climb back to more normal levels. Look for afternoon highs to reach the upper 80s to low 90s across the area, though again, dew points should be fairly manageable so it won’t be too terribly humid. Winds should remain on the light side out of the southeast at 10 to 15 MPH.

As a warm front lifts north into the area on Thursday, we’ll see an increased chance for showers and thunderstorms starting on Thursday morning. Some storms could be on the strong to severe side as most of the area is covered by a marginal risk for severe weather by the Storm Prediction Center. Temperatures look to range from the mid 80s to the mid 90s across the state on Thursday and how hot we get will likely have more to do if areas see any rain through the day on Thursday.

As warm, moist air is pulled northward, Friday is set to be the hottest and most humid day we have left on the calendar this week. Temperatures are forecast to spike into the low 90s to the low 100s from north to south across the area with heat index values potentially reaching between 100° and 108° by the afternoon.

We’ll see another chance for storms Friday night and into Saturday as a stronger cold front sweeps through the region. While off and on storms are possible into the weekend, it will be cooler and more comfortable with highs falling back to the 70s and low 80s for both Saturday and Sunday.

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