Today is Winter Weather Awareness Day in Nebraska and Iowa.
The National Weather Service designates a Winter Weather Awareness Day to encourage preparedness. While temperatures this week have been in the 70s, that could change quickly.
Jim Meyer, meteorologist-in-charge with the National Weather Service in Valley, says a potentially strong El Niño system could impact Nebraska and Iowa’s winter weather.
“Right now we’re thinking precipitation-wise, at least coming up out of Kansas and the southern part of Nebraska, maybe even edging a little bit in to southwest Iowa, there’s a probability of a little bit above normal precipitation.”
Meyer says temperatures could also be warmer than normal this winter because of the El Niño. But he cautions that it’s difficult to predict how much snow will fall eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.
The National Weather Service says 13.8 inches of snow fell in Omaha last winter, making it the 7th least snowy season on record. The last snowfall was a dusting of snow on March 4th.