First Alert Day through Tuesday as Wind Chill Warnings and record breaking cold continues

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Morning temperatures dropped all the way to -15 degrees for a new record low in Omaha. Parts of the region were even colder with morning lows falling to -27° in Norfolk, -24° in Columbus, and -19° in Tekamah. Afternoon sunshine has helped us out some, but high temperatures remained below zero across the entire region. Temperatures will quickly start dropping once again after sunset this evening. A small area of high clouds across southeast Nebraska and southern Iowa may hold temperatures up briefly tonight. Otherwise expect temperatures to fall below -10 degrees by 8pm, on the way down into the -20s tonight. We will likely set new record lows all across the region, with wind chills approaching -45° by Tuesday morning.

A morning low of -28 degrees would not only break the record for Tuesday morning, but it could break the record low for the entire month of February and land us in the top 5 coldest mornings on record. Additionally, a Wind CHill Warning is in effect as wind chills of -30 to -45 degrees will lead to dangerous conditions, as frostbite can develop in as little as 10 minutes on exposed skin.

After dangerous and record-setting cold Tuesday morning, filtered sunshine should bring us back up to around -1 for the afternoon. Clouds will start to thicken up Tuesday afternoon and evening, which will actually help to keep temperatures from falling quite as much Tuesday night. Lows likely only dip to around -5 degrees thanks to the cloud cover. We may see a few flurries early on Wednesday, then a very slow warming trend will begin. Temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday should climb to around 14 or 15. Friday and Saturday should see highs in the low to mid-20s. Better than today, but still below freezing. Temperatures should finally break the freezing mark by the end of the weekend, with highs in the 40s possible by next week.

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