Sterling, NE 68443 Weather

Key messages

- On and off showers and drizzle continue on Saturday, though any precipitation on Halloween looks to remain very light. Any lingering showers or drizzle should exit the region on Sunday.

- A strong weather system moves into the region early next week, bringing another round of showers and thunderstorms Monday into Tuesday. Periods of heavy rain are possible. A severe weather threat can't ne ruled out also.

- Highs in the 50s and lingering rain chances remain in the forecast through the end of the week.

Discussion

Issued at 1114 PM CDT Fri Oct 30 2026

Widely scattered showers and occasional thunderstorms have begun to develop across the area late this evening. This is in response to continued warm air advection ahead of an approaching shortwave trough that is currently lifting north from the Southern Plains. One and off showers and drizzle will continue tonight into Saturday as the trough moves overhead. Thunderstorm chances remain low and decrease beyond tonight. Any rain should remain light for Halloween evening. As the system exits the region on Sunday, a gradual drying trend is expected. Temperatures remain mild overnight with rain and clouds limiting cooling. Overnight low temperatures this weekend remain the 50s. The rain and clouds does stunt heating though with afternoon high temperatures only reaching the 60s.

Our next weather system quickly approaches the area on Monday, bringing widespread rain chances. A strong trough will begin to close-off into an upper-level low pressure as it approaches the Central Plains. This will lead to rapid cyclogenesis to our west, with a surface low pressure system approaching the region by Monday evening. Strong southeasterly winds quickly bring gulf moisture into the region ahead of this low. The main change compared to previous forecasts is a shift north with the expected surface low track. The surface low is now expected to move across southern South Dakota, putting our region into the warm sector of this system. In this scenario, total rainfall amounts decrease slightly, but a conditional severe weather threat enters the picture. Total rainfall is now likely to remain between 0.5" and 1.5" with pockets closer to 2" possible. Widespread rain and clouds is anticipated ahead of the surface low, which may limit any instability Monday afternoon and evening. That said, should this change, plentiful wind shear could support severe weather. We will need to keep a close eye on this in the coming forecasts.

A cold front quickly moves across the area Monday night into Tuesday morning. Widespread showers and thunderstorms continue behind the cold front on Tuesday. Not only will it become cooler, but strong northwest winds are expected due to the strong surface pressure gradient. This results in a chilly rain as temperatures fall back into the 50s during the afternoon and 40s during the morning. Wind speeds and rain chances gradually decrease on Wednesday as the weather system pushes off to the east. Cooler weather and at least low rain chances linger through the end of the week.

Aviation

Issued at 1212 AM CDT Sat Oct 31 2026

With the warm front farther north tonight than expected, we've seen significant improvement in conditions at KLNK and KOMA. Expect predominantly VFR conditions at these terminals overnight with lower confidence at KOMA than at KLNK. If cigs were to sink again at KOMA, they would probably hover around 1500-1800 ft (30% chance). Winds are shifting to more southerly at these terminals as well. KOFK on the other hand will continue to see borderline IFR/LIFR cigs over the next few hours, eventually settling around 700 ft around 09Z. Isolated showers across the area could briefly move through the terminals, potentially reducing visibility. Showers will increase from south to north Saturday morning, starting around 09-10Z at KLNK making it to Omaha around 11-12Z. Norfolk, will see these showers arrive closer to 15Z. As these move in initially we could see a better chance of MVFR cigs before improving back to VFR around 15Z at KOMA and KLNK. KOFK should improve back to VFR closer to 17Z. Cigs will settle around 4000-7000ft through the afternoon.

Watches, warnings and advisories

NE: None. IA: None.