February 17, 2025 • 6 mins
National Weather Service Breaks Down the Snow & Cold
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're joined right now by David Pearson. He's with the
National Weather Service in the Omaha and Valley area here
in Nebraska. And first off, David, thank you so much
for being a part of our show today.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, happy to do it, Emory.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Okay, so first things first this, you know, I'm terrible
sometimes of paying close attention to the forecast. How much
snow were we kind of anticipating getting today, If that
was something that you guys were paying close attention to
in the forecast?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, sure, thing coming into this morning, we had this
rather large area of snow expected anywhere from about two
to five inches. That whole thing ended up shifting well
to the north. Areas that we thought we're going to
get a bit more got less. And here in Omaha
Council Loft area we definitely got a bit more than anticipated.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Okay, So are we looking at about five inches or so?
Like you mentioned, Yeah, we've.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Heard anywhere from you know, two to five in the metro.
I think a few spots have had a bit more.
Kind of pens where you're at and how good you
are measuring, I suppose, but yeah, and that two to
five range has been the norm.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Okay, So as I look outside, Right, we had the
snowfall last week, and that was really like the first
substantial snowfall that we had. I knew it was kind
of spottily in the forecast for a few days coming up.
I'm guessing we're still below average, But is this something
that we're like if we are in that two to
five range, And I know that you guys really want
(01:27):
to like nail down exactly what that looks like. But
I'm sure we're still below average on the year. Is
that or the season? I should say? Is that right?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, we are. We're still we still need more moisture
and more snow. This helps, don't get me wrong, but
we're still a ways off from getting back to where
quote unquote normal would be. And as far as like
the numbers go, we're still down several inches of precipitation
and that goes back even to last fall, so we
need the moisture.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
We're speaking with David Pearson, He's a senior Service hydrologist
working with the National Weather Service in the Omaha area,
to follow up on that. Right, is what I'm looking
at on this map, A ton of blue. If you
go onto the National Weather Service website, you can see
all of the different warnings or advisories that are kind
of in effect. And for us, you know, yes, the
(02:18):
light snow is going to come at some point today.
You would imagine that this is going to end, but
the hazards really are just beginning, right David, because it
looks as though overnight this is going to be quite
a dangerous temperature that we're going to be under.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
It'll be dramatically cold, to say the least. The snow
is light moving on, eventually dramatic colder comes in. Tonight,
it's already cold, it's going to get way colder, and
that's going to linger all the way into Friday morning even.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Okay, so it's going to be a while. So what
kind of temperatures are we looking at overnight tonight?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Sure, overnight lows are going to feel cold even by themselves,
negative twelve tonight, negative eight the next day, negative fifteen
the next day. But you add in that wind north
wind around like ten miles an hour, we're talking wind
shills negative thirty if not colder in some areas.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
My goodness. Okay, So with that being said, like you mentioned,
we do have different advisories for different areas, I suppose
depending on exactly where you are, but here specifically for
the Omaha area, it looks like an extreme cold warning,
which is you know, we're in a winter other advisor,
I guess right now? And then that extreme cold warning
takes effect tonight and goes all the way through tomorrow
(03:32):
at noon. So for that extreme cold warning, what's the
kind of parameter on kind of the geographic space? Is
this something that anybody within earshot of me should be
paying close attention to? Or will the people south of
us be a little bit less likely to deal with
that sort of bad temperature?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah? It is interesting. So around here for us, we
have an exact number. If it's going to be negative
thirty wind chills or colder, then we do an extreme
cold warning. As you go throughout the country, that number
changes depending on where you live. If you're like way
in the south, like in Texas, that number is warmer.
Way up north, it's a bit colder. Go around here, though,
negative thirty is the number, and that means dangerous cold temperatures.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Very very interesting. Okay, last thing for you, David before
we let you go. I'm looking at kind of the forecast,
and what you mentioned is Yeah, this is the thing
that you're gonna have to pay attention to the rest
of the week. You get we're under an extreme cold watch.
So I guess what would be the difference between a
watch and a warning in this situation. Do you anticipate
(04:33):
maybe the weather like warming up just a little bit
to avoid that, or is this watch basically just saying, Hey,
there's a chance that we're going to be able to
flip this to a warning if the right things happen.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yeah, there's no chance that we get away with this
getting warmer. At this point, that watch just means what
it sounds like, we're going to be converting that to
a warning as the days go on. It's trying to
limit the confusion in the watch and warning thing. All
that sets to be very cold, and it feels like
it's locked at this point as we go through the week,
although the weekend there is a glimmer of hope there.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Okay, So like by Friday, you think we'll have a
little relief on the cold weather.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Saturday, for sure we're going to get into the thirties,
and we have Sunday getting into the forties, maybe even
hitting fifty. On Monday of next week, so there's good
things coming.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Okay, there we go. Now we're talking light at the
end of the tunnel and maybe getting rid of some
of this snow that's going to have piled up here.
David Pearson with the National Weather Service. Always great to
talk to one of you guys with the expertise. We
really appreciate you keeping us as safe as possible, and
we'll talk to you guys again soon. All right, take care,
all right, good stuff there, and really appreciate David for
being a part of our show today. It is two
(05:44):
forty six. We thank you for listening. If you'd like
to call in with something you're seeing on the roadways,
you can call us at four oh two five five
eight eleven ten. Four oh two, five five eight eleven ten.
We have more on the way on news radio eleven
ten KFAB
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Henry's songer I'm on on news radio eleven ten KFA
B
We're joined right now by David Pearson. He's with the
National Weather Service in the Omaha and Valley area here
in Nebraska. And first off, David, thank you so much
for being a part of our show today.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, happy to do it, Emory.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Okay, so first things first this, you know, I'm terrible
sometimes of paying close attention to the forecast. How much
snow were we kind of anticipating getting today, If that
was something that you guys were paying close attention to
in the forecast?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, sure, thing coming into this morning, we had this
rather large area of snow expected anywhere from about two
to five inches. That whole thing ended up shifting well
to the north. Areas that we thought we're going to
get a bit more got less. And here in Omaha
Council Loft area we definitely got a bit more than anticipated.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Okay, So are we looking at about five inches or so?
Like you mentioned, Yeah, we've.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Heard anywhere from you know, two to five in the metro.
I think a few spots have had a bit more.
Kind of pens where you're at and how good you
are measuring, I suppose, but yeah, and that two to
five range has been the norm.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Okay, So as I look outside, Right, we had the
snowfall last week, and that was really like the first
substantial snowfall that we had. I knew it was kind
of spottily in the forecast for a few days coming up.
I'm guessing we're still below average, But is this something
that we're like if we are in that two to
five range, And I know that you guys really want
(01:27):
to like nail down exactly what that looks like. But
I'm sure we're still below average on the year. Is
that or the season? I should say? Is that right?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, we are. We're still we still need more moisture
and more snow. This helps, don't get me wrong, but
we're still a ways off from getting back to where
quote unquote normal would be. And as far as like
the numbers go, we're still down several inches of precipitation
and that goes back even to last fall, so we
need the moisture.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
We're speaking with David Pearson, He's a senior Service hydrologist
working with the National Weather Service in the Omaha area,
to follow up on that. Right, is what I'm looking
at on this map, A ton of blue. If you
go onto the National Weather Service website, you can see
all of the different warnings or advisories that are kind
of in effect. And for us, you know, yes, the
(02:18):
light snow is going to come at some point today.
You would imagine that this is going to end, but
the hazards really are just beginning, right David, because it
looks as though overnight this is going to be quite
a dangerous temperature that we're going to be under.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
It'll be dramatically cold, to say the least. The snow
is light moving on, eventually dramatic colder comes in. Tonight,
it's already cold, it's going to get way colder, and
that's going to linger all the way into Friday morning even.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
Okay, so it's going to be a while. So what
kind of temperatures are we looking at overnight tonight?
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Sure, overnight lows are going to feel cold even by themselves,
negative twelve tonight, negative eight the next day, negative fifteen
the next day. But you add in that wind north
wind around like ten miles an hour, we're talking wind
shills negative thirty if not colder in some areas.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
My goodness. Okay, So with that being said, like you mentioned,
we do have different advisories for different areas, I suppose
depending on exactly where you are, but here specifically for
the Omaha area, it looks like an extreme cold warning,
which is you know, we're in a winter other advisor,
I guess right now? And then that extreme cold warning
takes effect tonight and goes all the way through tomorrow
(03:32):
at noon. So for that extreme cold warning, what's the
kind of parameter on kind of the geographic space? Is
this something that anybody within earshot of me should be
paying close attention to? Or will the people south of
us be a little bit less likely to deal with
that sort of bad temperature?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah? It is interesting. So around here for us, we
have an exact number. If it's going to be negative
thirty wind chills or colder, then we do an extreme
cold warning. As you go throughout the country, that number
changes depending on where you live. If you're like way
in the south, like in Texas, that number is warmer.
Way up north, it's a bit colder. Go around here, though,
negative thirty is the number, and that means dangerous cold temperatures.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Very very interesting. Okay, last thing for you, David before
we let you go. I'm looking at kind of the forecast,
and what you mentioned is Yeah, this is the thing
that you're gonna have to pay attention to the rest
of the week. You get we're under an extreme cold watch.
So I guess what would be the difference between a
watch and a warning in this situation. Do you anticipate
(04:33):
maybe the weather like warming up just a little bit
to avoid that, or is this watch basically just saying, Hey,
there's a chance that we're going to be able to
flip this to a warning if the right things happen.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yeah, there's no chance that we get away with this
getting warmer. At this point, that watch just means what
it sounds like, we're going to be converting that to
a warning as the days go on. It's trying to
limit the confusion in the watch and warning thing. All
that sets to be very cold, and it feels like
it's locked at this point as we go through the week,
although the weekend there is a glimmer of hope there.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Okay, So like by Friday, you think we'll have a
little relief on the cold weather.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Saturday, for sure we're going to get into the thirties,
and we have Sunday getting into the forties, maybe even
hitting fifty. On Monday of next week, so there's good
things coming.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Okay, there we go. Now we're talking light at the
end of the tunnel and maybe getting rid of some
of this snow that's going to have piled up here.
David Pearson with the National Weather Service. Always great to
talk to one of you guys with the expertise. We
really appreciate you keeping us as safe as possible, and
we'll talk to you guys again soon. All right, take care,
all right, good stuff there, and really appreciate David for
being a part of our show today. It is two
(05:44):
forty six. We thank you for listening. If you'd like
to call in with something you're seeing on the roadways,
you can call us at four oh two five five
eight eleven ten. Four oh two, five five eight eleven ten.
We have more on the way on news radio eleven
ten KFAB
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Henry's songer I'm on on news radio eleven ten KFA
B
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