Action 3 News Weather Blog

I am sure most of you heard the sirens today??? We are in the middle of severe weather awareness week, a reminder that severe weather is just around the corner! This week we focus on severe weather safety, what defines a severe thunderstorm, lightning, flooding and of course tornadoes. Last year was fairly easy going with only 39 tornadoes reported across the state, down 12 from our 30 year average of 51 per year. Most meteorologist believe this year will be more active especially given last year and the harsh winter we just had. Just a reminder that most of our severe weather occurs late in the afternoon during the suns heating and in the months of April, May and June. Stayed tuned to Action 3 News and the First Warning Weather Team throughout the spring and summer for latest on the storms and to keep you and your family safe when severe weather threatens.

A couple of quick notes of interest. Today was the first time we hit the 50s in Omaha since December 1st! That span of 105 days is the 5th longest strech in Omaha history.

Also, many of you have inquired about the International Space Station, here is a link with all the info for viewing the rest of the month…http://www.nasa.gov/topics/shuttle_station/index.html

Flooding along area streams and rivers has become the top weather story this week. With our recent warm-up snow and ice has been melting over the last week. Couple that with several rounds of rain over the last week and the flooding threat will continue into the weekend. The primary locations of concern are along the Elkhorn River and along the Platte River just west and northwest of Omaha. Stay tuned to local forecast and area flood statements for the latest on this developing situation.

A couple of quick notes as we head into the weekend. The first of two storms will bring some changes to our weather over the next 24 hours. Rain will develop later tonight into Saturday. We may actually hear a few rumbles of thunder during this time! This storm will continue to bring in breezy and mild conditions to the area through tomorrow. We will get a break on Sunday before the next system brings rain back to the area on Monday. Both of these storms are similar with spring like features, so we can expect mainly rain as our type of precipitaion and temperatures in the 40s.

It appears we have started to break out of this weather pattern “Deep Freeze”. With several days now above the 30 degree mark the mercury will continue to climb. I am still expecting 40s by the end of the week with a high temperature of 50 on Sunday! This will be the first time in 3 months we will see several days at or above normal in a row. Our normal high for early March is in the mid 40s and we should be at that or above this weekend. The milder weather also has our next precip chances in the form of rain. The first opportunity comes Friday into early Saturday with the second chance late Sunday into Monday.