The National Weather Service – Omaha released their 2021-2022 winter outlook.
After combing over dozens of models and reviewing 30 years of weather patterns, the outlook for the season is a bit of a mixed bag.
Meteorologist Brett Albright says, “The general trend in terms of what we are expecting in that November to March time frame would be something near average conditions for the start of the winter. (Conditions) will be slightly above average in terms of temperatures for the November, December, January period. Then the forecast does favor a trend towards colder weather outbreaks in February. Whether that will linger into March, I can’t really say but that is the overall trend. In terms of precip, we don’t have a lot to go on whether that will be above or below. As we go through the winter, the chances of more snowfall goes up in February.”
While they don’t happen often, NWS wants Nebraskans to be aware of snow squalls. Albright says these are brief bursts of snow that typically last less than an hour. They can lead to a rapid reduction in vision if traveling and a rapid change in road conditions. These are small scale events and can be difficult to predict. An Emergency Alert, similar of that to a thunderstorm warning, will be issued in the event one of these pop up.
Seasonally, Lincoln has between six and 15 events when it snows an inch of less. Snowfalls of 4 or more inches typically happen one to three times a season.