Temps come down just a little and the main thunderstorm focus will be in the west the next few days

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) – Temperatures today come down slightly after a hot Wednesday. It’ll still be quite warm with highs above average in the mid to upper 80s and lower 90s. Winds will be breezy out of the south southeast at 10 to 20 mph with some gusts over 25 mph. Otherwise, expect a fairly quiet game as some of the early clouds break up and we see quite a bit of sunshine. There may still be some upper level cirrus through the day. Light rain in North Central Nebraska early will be moving out by around mid-morning. Towards the end of the afternoon and into the early evening, the focus will turn to a stalled out front over northwest portions of the area. A line of thunderstorms is expected to develop from the Panhandle to North Central Nebraska. These will push slowly east and southeast through the evening, bringing the threat of severe wind gusts and large hail. After sunset, they will start to weaken. After midnight, much of the rain will start to diminish, leaving areas southeast of O’Neill to North Platte with very little chance of rain or thunderstorms. By tomorrow morning, there will just be some leftover debris clouds to start off Friday morning. Low temperatures tonight will fall to the upper 50s and low to mid 60s for most.

Friday could be somewhat of a repeat to today, although winds will be a bit lighter and more southeasterly. High temperatures will be back up into the 80s and lower 90s. It will be a little cooler in far Northern Nebraska. Once again, the end of the afternoon and early evening will be when thunderstorms become the focus, mainly over Western Nebraska and Northeast Colorado. These will push eastward into the evening. The western third of the state will have the best chance of severe storms with large hail and severe wind gusts the main threats. There is a low-end threat of an isolated tornado near the Colorado border in Southwest Nebraska and the Southern Panhandle. While severe storms will still be possible a little farther east through the mid-evening, once again, thunderstorms will weaken and diminish through the night as they make an eastward push. The eastern half of the area will only have a small chance of rain later in the night into early Saturday.

Temperatures will come up a little over the weekend into early next week with highs back up into the upper 80s and low to mid 90s. Slight chance for thunderstorms over the weekend and Monday continue, mainly in the evening and overnight. Once again, chances are better to the west than they are to the east. Temperatures begin to cool-down Tuesday and more-so Wednesday as a strong system brings a better chance of showers and thunderstorms during the Tuesday/Wednesday time frame. Highs will mostly be in the 80s during this time, although if things slow down, more 90s may still be possible on Tuesday. I do expect another jump back up in temperatures during the second half of next week with highs in the upper 80s and 90s.

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