Temperatures Dropping; Hard Freeze Likely in Panhandle and Sandhills early Sunday - UNL CropWatch

Temperatures Dropping; Hard Freeze Likely in Panhandle and Sandhills early Sunday - UNL CropWatch

April 6, 2012

Frost and hard freeze conditions were reported across much of the Great Lakes region this morning, with even colder low temperatures possible tomorrow morning. A freeze warning has been posted for Saturday morning for most of Ohio, northeastern Kentucky, West Virginia, and western Virginia. In addition, a hard freeze warning is in effect for northeastern Indiana and western Pennsylvania.

Stay up to date on current frost advisories across the Corn Belt on the National Weather Service website.

For Nebraska proper, a cold front will sweep through the state this afternoon through tomorrow morning. The system and its attendant moisture will shift east by tomorrow afternoon and high pressure will build into the central Plains for the remainder of the weekend. Unfortunately, a hard freeze is likely across the northern Panhandle and western Sandhills by Sunday morning. Scattered frost to moderate frost conditions may occur across northeastern Nebraska, with isolated pockets of frost possible in low lying areas north of the I-80 corridor.

As the upper air trough associated with push of cold air moves toward the upper Great Lakes, it is expected to deepen and drive cold air into the eastern Corn Belt. Some of this cold air is expected to back westward across Iowa and increase our chances for scattered frost and freeze conditions on the mornings of Tuesday and Wednesday. If the forecasts verify, northeastern Nebraska may bear the brunt of the cold air; much of eastern Nebraska north of I-80 could also see pockets of light to moderate frost.

Another system moving into the region as early as next Thursday brings a chance of moisture. Periodic moisture is projected through April 15 as the system slowly moves toward the upper Great Lakes. The forecast indicates that cold air on the backside of this system will invade the state April 16 and frost/freeze conditions could develop as far south as the Neraska-Kansas border. Another cold air outbreak is indicated for April 22, but forecast confidence this far in advance is low.

Al Dutcher
Nebraska State Climatologist

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