David’s 6 First Alert Forecast - Fantastic evening, storm chances Thursday

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Mostly sunny skies and light winds made for a great afternoon and evening across the area. Some haze has been moving through at times thanks to elevated wildfire smoke drifting down from the major wildfires in Alberta, Canada. While the smoke is creating a bit of a haze, the impact to air quality has been minimal so far. We may dip into the yellow, or moderate range at times. If you are especially sensitive to smoke or pollution you may want to think about limiting time outdoors, but most people will not feel an impact. We will keep an eye on conditions and update if air quality changes.

Quiet conditions are expected for the rest of the evening with temperatures holding onto the 80s through at least 6pm. We’ll slide into the 70s after sunset with mainly clear skies. Thunderstorms off to our west will fade with time, but may send some clouds our way later tonight and into Thursday morning. A stray shower is possible, mainly in northeast Nebraska early on Thursday, but the metro should stay dry.

Temperatures on Thursday will warm back into the low 80s for the Omaha area, but an advancing cold front may keep parts of northeastern Nebraska and northern Iowa a bit cooler. That front should reach the metro by mid-afternoon, helping to kick off a few scattered storms. These storms will be hit and miss, so not everyone will see rain. However, where storms develop, some brief heavy rain is likely along with plenty of lightning and thunder. Significant severe weather is not expected with this round of storms. Rain and storms should be moving out of here by the late evening, clearing out overnight.

Breezy north winds behind the front will cool us off on Friday with highs in the upper 60s. North winds could gust up to 30mph at times. We will be watching for potential impacts from wildfire smoke once again thanks to the north wind. Gusts should diminish by the late evening. Lighter winds and a warming trend will return for the weekend with highs back to around 80 by Sunday. Plenty of early summer warmth is expected for next week with highs in the low to middle 80s. Rain and storm chances return by the end of the week.

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