November 7th has been deemed Winter Awareness Day so this seems like a perfect time to refresh everybody on some of the key words and phrases that you’ll be hearing over the next few months. Let’s start with some of the different snow references you may hear. We’ll start with the light stuff which would be flurries.
According to the National Weather Service, the term flurries means light snow falling for short durations with no accumulations or a light dusting is all that is expected. Snow Showers is snow falling at varying intensities for brief periods of time and some accumulation is possible. One type of snowfall that isn’t seen around here very often but is still on the list is the Snow Squall. These are brief, intense snow showers accompanied by strong, gusty winds and accumulation may be significant. Snow squalls are best known in the Great Lakes region but can happen in Nebraska. Something that is seen quite frequently around these parts is blowing snow.
Blowing snow is wind-driven snow that reduces visibility and causes significant drifting. Blowing snow may be snow that is falling and/or loose snow on the ground picked up by the wind. Then there’s the blizzard, which is by far the worst. A blizzard means that winds are over 35 mph with snow and blowing snow reducing visibility to near zero.
Weather Last Week
October 28: 34/70/0”
October 29: 36/55/Trace
October 30: 31/42/Trace
October 31: 22/53/0”
November 1: 24/57/0”
November 2: 15/61/0”
November 3: 36/61/0”
Forecast discussion for the week ahead:
A couple of frontal boundaries will be moving through to wrap up the work week and into the weekend. With these cold fronts, some light rain and snow showers will be possible. When they move through will determine what kind of precipitation we see. If it’s at night, it’ll likely be cold enough for snow!