textproduct: Omaha/Valley

KEY MESSAGES

- Slick roads this evening deteriorating tonight with travel becoming very difficult to impossible in some areas Saturday. If you have travel plans, consider delaying them.

- A mix of light snow, sleet, and freezing rain or drizzle will become increasingly widespread late this afternoon into evening. A change over to all snow occurs from north to south tonight into Saturday.

- The heaviest snow is expected from west-central and southwest Iowa into east-central and northeast Nebraska. Highest ice accumulations are forecast across southeast Nebraska into southwest Iowa.

- Both the Winter Storm Warning and Winter Weather Advisory have been expanded.

- Cold settles in for the rest of the weekend and the start of next week. Temperatures will warm up Tuesday, persisting through the end of the forecast.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 337 PM CST Fri Nov 28 2025

Rest of this afternoon through Saturday night:

The going forecast remains largely on track with minor changes made to the snow and ice accumulations, and the counties included in the Winter Storm Warning and Winter Weather Advisory. More details below.

Early afternoon water vapor imagery shows a vigorous mid-level trough over the northern Rockies, which is forecast to undergo considerable amplification as it moves into the central part of the U.S. on Saturday. Recent model data have come into better agreement in the track of the associated surface low with that feature moving along the KS-OK border tonight and then through eastern KS and northern or central MO on Saturday. The models have trended colder with the boundary-layer conditions to the north of the surface low track across our area, which results in a potentially longer duration of snow for some areas, and associated higher snow totals.

Warm advection attendant to a weak mid-level disturbance moving through SD has contributed to a mix of light snow, sleet, and freezing drizzle across parts of the area so far today. Webcams in northeast NE and west-central IA show a dusting of snow on the ground with roads becoming slick in those areas. Continued warm advection will support a gradually expanding shield of precipitation this evening, which will start out light before becoming heavier into the overnight hours.

Model soundings suggest that the depth of the saturated layer aloft may decrease late this afternoon into evening before deepening into the favorable ice/snow-growth zone overnight into Saturday. As such, precipitation will likely remain a mix of light snow, sleet, and light freezing rain or drizzle into this evening, which will contribute to deteriorating road conditions across much of the area. By late this evening and continuing through the overnight hours into Saturday, a change over to all snow is expected to occur from north to south.

That changeover process remains complicated as the models depict varying locations of the transition zone between solid and freezing/liquid precipitation temporarily becoming quasi- stationary along or just to the south of I-80 overnight into Saturday morning. That uncertainty is captured nicely by the 12z HREF, which indicates the greatest variability in member- accumulated snow along a line from Wahoo through the southern part of the Omaha metro to between Oakland, IA and Red Oak, IA. As such, confidence in snowfall amounts is lowest along that axis. To the north of that axis, it still appears that a band of heavy snow will develop with the highest accumulations of up to 6-12" expected in the Harlan, IA and Onawa, IA vicinities, decreasing with westward extent in east-central and northeast NE. To the south of the transition zone, snow totals from a trace up to three inches are forecast with ice accumulations up to 0.1-0.15".

Winds will strengthen through the day Saturday with gusts up to 35 to 40 mph expected during the afternoon. The highest snow rates are expected to precede the strongest winds, which will limit the potential for true blizzard conditions. Nonetheless, plan on considerable blowing and drifting snow Saturday into Saturday night, which coupled with the preceding ice accumulation will lead to very difficult to impossible travel in some areas. Temperatures could hover around the freezing mark along the KS border with precipitation remaining light rain into Saturday morning. But even there, the potential exists for flash freeze conditions by late morning into Saturday afternoon as colder air surges south.

Given the above considerations, the Winter Storm Warning has been expanded to include Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, and Stanton Counties with the Winter Weather Advisory expanded across the remainder of our area.

Sunday into next week:

Another short-wave trough is forecast to move through the northern and central Plains Sunday night into Monday, leading to another chance (20-50% PoPs) of light snow, especially in southeast NE and southwest IA. Otherwise, the primary hazard for this time period is the cold weather. Highs only in the teens and 20s on Sunday are expected to warm slightly into the 20s by Monday with overnight lows in the single digits to around 15. The coldest temperatures are expected Monday night into Tuesday morning when some locations could approach zero. Overnight wind chills will be in the single digits above and below zero.

Slightly warmer temperatures are expected in the Tuesday- Thursday timeframe with highs in 20s and 30s.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SUNDAY/

Issued at 1143 PM CST Fri Nov 28 2025

IFR to MVFR ceilings and visibilities are observed at the start of this TAF period along with a wintry precip mix. The wintry mix will linger longer across KLNK, while a slightly earlier change over to snow is expected at KOFK and KOMA. Ceilings and visibilities may reach LIFR at times within any snow showers. Winds will also be of concern, switching to the north northwest with gusts of 25 to 35 kts expected late Saturday morning into the afternoon hours at all three terminals. These winds may result in areas of blowing snow further reducing visibilities. Visibilities should improve to VFR sometime after 21 or 22z, while snow should largely exit the area by 00z Sunday. May still see lingering MVFR ceilings toward the very end of the TAF period.

OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

NE...Winter Storm Warning until midnight CST Saturday night for NEZ012-015-018-032>034-044-045-052-053. Winter Weather Advisory until midnight CST Saturday night for NEZ011-016-017-030-031-042-043-050-051-065>068-078- 088>093. IA...Winter Storm Warning until midnight CST Saturday night for IAZ043-055-056-069. Winter Weather Advisory until midnight CST Saturday night for IAZ079-080-090-091.