textproduct: Omaha/Valley

KEY MESSAGES

- Lingering light snow this morning, mainly west of a line from Norfolk to Lincoln (20-30% chance). Accumulation under 0.5".

- Cold through Saturday, with highs in the teens today and Saturday morning wind chills from 10 to 20 degrees below zero.

- Additional snow Saturday afternoon into early Sunday could lead to a few slick spots (50-80% chance). Amounts mostly in the 0.5 to 1" range, though a few spots could see around 2".

- Warmer Sunday into next week with highs in the 30s and 40s.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 330 AM CST Fri Jan 30 2026

Early morning analysis showed a surface front stalled out across western NE, running southeast from roughly Chadron to to McCook. Immediately to its east, some light snow was falling as some shortwave energy was sliding through. Some of this could clip far western portions of the forecast area this morning, especially as another bit of shortwave energy starts to push in. However, the aforementioned front will gradually push westward today with strong, cold surface high pressure moving in quickly, so any snow accumulation should be limited to a couple tenths of an inch, mainly west of a line from Norfolk to Lincoln. Otherwise, it'll be a cold day with temperatures topping out in the teens.

As the surface high moves over tonight, clearing skies and light winds will allow temperatures to tank with lows Saturday morning around -5 to 0 for most locations. Given the light winds, wind chills should be around 5 to 10 degrees cooler than actual air temperatures in most locations. However, a few spots in northeast NE could see some slightly stronger winds as the high pushes into KS Saturday morning, allowing wind chills to approach -20. There was some consideration given toward a Cold Weather Advisory for these areas, but with those wind chills expected to be somewhat patchy and only a couple hours, elected to hold off for now. We'll have to see how things trend today.

Attention then turns to snow chances later in the day on Saturday as a mid-level shortwave trough and surface low move along the Canadian border and drag a warm front through the area. There will be a lot of dry air to overcome given the cold high in place just ahead of the front, but guidance is in good agreement that we'll see at least some light snow start to push into northeast NE by mid-afternoon and push east across the area Saturday night, largely exiting by 6 AM Sunday. Given the dry air and fairly quick movement, snow amounts should be on the lighter side, mostly 0.5-1", though a few spots could see around 1-2". It is worth noting that 00Z GEFS/EPS "switched" compared to their 12Z runs, with GEFS now favoring slightly more snow (30-60% chance of at least 1") and EPS backing off (less than 10% chance of at least 1"). All in all, give it about a 20-30% chance for 1-2" in a given spot, highest in northeast NE and west-central IA. Finally, guidance does hint at some potential for freezing rain or event sleet to very briefly mix in on the back side of the departing precipitation as warm air aloft pushes in, but model soundings suggest precip will be quickly coming to an end as that happens, so not currently expecting much, if any, ice-related impacts.

Any snow that does fall should quickly melt as warmer weather is on the way for Sunday into next week as upper level ridging starts to push into the area. Expect highs in the 30s and 40s through the week with a few pieces of guidance suggesting some 50s will be possible by the end of the work week. As far as precip chances through the week, Tuesday night into Wednesday currently looks like the best bet, though still only a 20% chance. The general idea is that a weak northern stream shortwave will slide through the area while southern stream wave and surface low pass by just to our south, with one or both possibly clipping us with some light snow. However, guidance is in decent agreement that they become more phased up to our east with more widespread precipitation favored for the eastern part of the CONUS. That said, we're still several days out, so there's still some differences in guidance that will need to be worked out.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 517 AM CST Fri Jan 30 2026

VFR conditions favored for much of the period, though some lingering MVFR ceilings and flurries/light snow may clip OFK and LNK this morning, with additional MVFR-level clouds moving in from the north by late morning/early afternoon. The latter are expected to be on a dissipating trend as they move in, so kept prevailing SCT with TEMPO for MVFR ceilings. Otherwise, expect north-northeasterly winds to gust 18-20 kts this afternoon before they lighten up this evening and become more northwesterly to westerly.

OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

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