Severe storms are likely for much of the area by this afternoon and this evening

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - Much of the area is starting off quiet with partly to mostly cloudy skies. There aren’t many showers left this morning. It’s a mild morning ahead of a cold front over Western Nebraska. As the morning goes on, a few showers and isolated thunderstorms will try to move in from Western Kansas. A few more thundershowers may develop. These should be non-severe in the morning. As the morning turns to afternoon, numerous thunderstorms will be developing near and ahead of the cold front. The bulk of them will be in Central Nebraska and North Central Kansas. The chance of severe storms will increase into the afternoon. Some very large hail, possibly larger than golf ball size, will be possible in the strongest storms. Severe winds gusts will also be possible. A few tornadoes cannot be ruled out. The best chance of that will be closer to the Nebraska/Kansas border south of the Tri-Cities. This would especially be the case with any individual supercell thunderstorms. During the early evening, the storms will shift from central into eastern areas. They should be cleared out of the Tri-Cities by the mid-evening. They may last through about midnight in Eastern Nebraska. Later in the evening, the storms will gradually weaken. After midnight, skies will clear out, although a few clouds will remain. The cold front should be somewhere in Central Nebraska in the evening, but will push east and clear the area after midnight. This will lead to cooler temperatures tomorrow morning. As for the other aspects of today’s weather, we will still see strong south winds in the warm sector ahead of the cold front today. Winds will blow 15 to 25 mph with gusts to 35 mph. It won’t be as hot today with more clouds and the rain chances. Highs will range from the lower 70s west to the lower 80s southeast. Some out west will have the cold front push through in the afternoon, which could lead to temperatures falling into the 60s later today. As the cooler air moves in, temperatures will dip back to between the mid 40s west and the mid 50s east.

Wednesday will be a fairly nice day with a slight breeze out of the northwest at 5 to 15 mph. Look for partly to mostly sunny skies with most of the clouds to the southeast. Highs will be in the upper 60s and lower 70s. It’ll be back down into the 40s and 50s tomorrow night into Thursday morning ahead of the next cold front that will dive south into the area. That front will pass through early Thursday, which will bring some breezy north northwest winds of 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 25 mph. The cooler air will be slow to move in. Highs will range from the lower 60s northwest to the lower 70s southeast. It’ll be chillier Thursday night into Friday morning with lows in the upper 30s and low to mid 40s. It won’t be as chilly as it could because winds will be fairly breezy. Late in the night and into Friday morning, forecast models are split on if we’ll see showers. If so, it’ll be a more miserable Friday. If not, it’ll just be a chilly and windy day. Highs on Friday will range from the upper 40s north to around 60 in the south.

As high pressure settles in Friday night, skies will be clear and winds will die down. It’ll be a cold night with lows in the mid 20s to the mid 30s. Many will drop to around or below freezing. A hard freeze will be possible in the far western and northwestern part of the area. It will be sunny over the weekend and there won’t be a whole lot of wind. So after the chill of the morning, some nice afternoons are expected. Highs on Saturday will range from the upper 50s northeast to the mid 60s southwest. It’ll warm up more on Sunday with highs from the upper 60s northeast to the mid 70s southwest. Between the two, it’ll be another chilly night Saturday night with lows again in the 30s. Warmer temperatures are anticipated into the early and middle part of next week as highs get back above average. Highs will be back up into the mid 70s to the mid 80s for a few days.

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