textproduct: Omaha/Valley

KEY MESSAGES

- Warmer, but still below-normal temperatures in the 20s and low 30s through Wednesday.

- Colder temperatures move back in Friday with lows dropping below zero again Saturday morning.

- Snow chances (30-50%) Thursday into early Friday and again Saturday into Saturday night (30-50%).

DISCUSSION

Issued at 120 PM CST Tue Jan 27 2026

High clouds are drifting into our western counties this afternoon with mostly clear skies farther east. Temperatures are generally in the low 20s across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Water vapor satellite imagery shows the broad trough over the eastern CONUS with us under northwesterly flow.

The upper-level pattern remains messy through the next few days as a ridge over the Rockies pushes into the trough to our east leading to enhancement in the polar jet streak pushing south into the Dakotas and Minnesota. It's ultimately the amplification of the subtropical jet over the Desert Southwest that finally pushes the trough off to the east Wednesday into Thursday. As this occurs, a weak ridge moves across the Central Plains on Wednesday. This allows for weak warm-air advection to continue the warming trend, with highs in the upper 20s to low 30s during the afternoon. Thursday a shortwave trough is allowed to move in with the exit of the broad trough to our east. This develops a surface low over southeast CO/southwest KS and tracks it eastward along across Oklahoma/Kansas/Missouri. This system remains weak and doesn't hold together too long, but it will advect moisture into eastern Nebraska and western Iowa from the Gulf. A frontogenesis band is forecast to develop across our area north of the Low bringing 30-50% chances for light snow through the day on Thursday. With high temperatures forecast to remain in the 20s, anything that falls should just fall as snow. Amounts right now look light, generally less than an inch, but we could see a narrow band of higher amounts.

Going into Friday a stronger trough pivots south out of Canada into the Northern Plains bringing another surge of arctic air. Temperatures will fall back down near zero Friday morning with highs back in the teens Friday afternoon. Saturday morning lows fall even further into the -2 to -8 degree range with wind chills dropping to -15 to -20.

Another trailing shortwave brings additional chances (30-50%) for light snow Saturday into Saturday night. There is significant spread in this system, so confidence is low in details.

The cold doesn't stick around long, with temperatures warming into the 30s on Sunday and we may even see 40s on Monday.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 1050 AM CST Tue Jan 27 2026

VFR conditions through the period. Lines in the TAFs are for wind shifts with wind south of the northwest today becoming light and somewhat variable overnight, generally shifting to south or southwesterly after around 02Z and back to the northwest toward 12Z.

OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

NE...None. IA...None.