Overcast with showers and thunderstorms Friday, with some severe weather possible; High Winds return through Saturday

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) -After a warm and dry Thursday, the weather has made a 180 for our Friday with showers and thunderstorms and some of which could be strong to severe. The winds are also returning into the area through our Saturday as well.

During the morning Friday, showers and thunderstorms have already impacted the area and this is round 1 of potentially 3 throughout the day Friday. As of now, this round has then moved out the region and now we are dealing with rain cooled air and overcast conditions. The temperatures were in the upper 40s to low 60s, which is a mild start to the day and the air is pretty much saturated Friday morning as well. The winds are around 10 to 20 mph and this will only increase throughout the rest of the day.

With our storm system continuing being on top of us, it will provide us with 2 to 3 rounds of showers and thunderstorms throughout the day and some of which could be strong to severe, mainly across Greater Nebraska. The Storm Prediction Center has us under a Marginal to Slight(Levels 1 and 2 out of 5) chance of severe weather. Damaging gusts near 60mph, hail the size of quarters, and isolated tornadoes are possible throughout the day.

The timing of the next round of storms will start to erupt near the Eastern Panhandle by 11 a.m. CDT and will continue to move towards the east into Greater Nebraska, where the instability is a little more favorable. This round will move completely out of the area by 4 to 5 p.m. CDT. The next and final round of rain and embedded thunderstorms will start around 8 p.m. in the form of wrap around moisture. This round will move out of the area by 5 to 6 a.m. Saturday morning. The amount of rainfall from this system will range from .5 inch to almost 2 inches in some spots. Locally higher amounts are also possible as well.

Once the storm system moves towards the north and east Saturday, and along with an area of high pressure to the north, this provide the area with a strong likelihood of seeing strong winds. A High Wind Warning and Watch is in effect in the result of that through Friday evening into Sunday morning. Winds of 25 to 45 mph are expected with gusts upwards to 60 to 75 mph.

On Sunday, we will experience a break from all of the hectic weather with below average temperatures and partly cloudy skies. But overnight Sunday into Monday, another disturbance will be moving into the state, providing us with more well needed rain and potentially some wet snow. This will continued to be monitored over the next few days.

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