textproduct: Omaha/Valley

KEY MESSAGES

- Bitterly cold through Sunday morning, with morning wind chills in the negative single digits. Another surge of cold air Monday morning pushes wind chills to 5 to 20 degrees below zero.

- Strong northwest winds on Sunday with winds gusts up to 40 to 50 mph.

- Bands of snow showers Sunday morning through the afternoon. Due to strong winds, blowing snow may significantly reduce visibility. Little to no accumulation is expected.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 241 PM CST Sat Jan 17 2026

Rest of Today and Tonight

Lingering flurries and associated cumulus are slowly eroding from northwest to southeast across the area as surface high pressure begins to move into the region. A bitterly cold afternoon is ongoing with temperatures struggling to reach the upper single digits and low teens. Continued gusty northwest winds of 20 to 30 mph are keeping wind chills from 5 to 15 degrees below zero. Winds decrease this evening as surface high pressure draws closer. In the meantime, water vapor imagery shows a large trough over the eastern United States with our next shortwave beginning to dive out of Saskatchewan, Canada. This shortwave trough is forecast to begin influencing the area late tonight. As this trough approaches winds quickly become southwesterly overnight, though this does little for our cold temperatures.

Sunday

Sunday morning will start cold in the single digits once again. As this trough moves through the region, a fast-moving band of snow swings east through the area during the early morning hours. This band is not anticipated to result in any impacts due to significant low-level dry air. As this trough departs, an even stronger shortwave will be hot on its heels. This pushes another strong cold front through the region. Winds gusts of 40 to 50 mph are forecast for the area with a Wind Advisory in effect for portions of northeast Nebraska and west-central Iowa. Ahead of the cold front, temperatures quickly warm into the 30s with the strong winds, but this will be short-lived as temperatures fall through the afternoon and evening behind the aforementioned cold front. Along and behind this cold front, more bands of snow are anticipated. These snow bands in conjunction with the strong winds may quickly reduce visibility, causing hazardous driving. Snowfall with these bands should be light with only a quick dusting under the heaviest showers. Even in this case, near freezing surface temperatures and the addition of solar insolation may quickly melt and evaporate any snow that does stick around. Temperatures plummet Sunday night as cold, dry air erodes an lingering snow showers.

Next Week

By Monday morning, single digits with bitterly cold wind chills of 5 to 20 degrees below zero start the work week. Temperatures remain cold through Monday before climbing Tuesday. This is ahead of our next shortwave trough. This additional trough pushes yet another cold front through the area. At this time, any snow and the bulk of the colder air is kept at bay just north of the area. The same can not be said for late next week. By this time, yet another trough is currently forecast to move through. This second system will send yet another strong cold front through the area. Gusty winds, snow showers, and more bitter cold are all on the table by the end of the work week into early next weekend as it stands.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY/

Issued at 1111 AM CST Sat Jan 17 2026

MVFR ceilings have hung on late this morning across much of the region. Forecast guidance and satellite imagery indicate that these ceilings should scattered and lift over the next hour or two. VFR conditions prevail for the remainder of the period. Strong northwest winds remain with gusts between 20 to 30 kts through this afternoon. Winds weaken this evening and gradually shift to southwesterly around midnight.

OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

NE...Wind Advisory from 9 AM to 7 PM CST Sunday for NEZ011-012- 015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065-066-078. IA...Wind Advisory from 9 AM to 7 PM CST Sunday for IAZ043-055-056- 069.