OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – If you need to get your grass cut, do it Monday evening! Your yard might stay wet until Friday in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Rounds of rain and storms through the middle of the week have prompted a Flood Watch from Tuesday evening through Thursday.
Why not round out a soggy month with even more heavy rain, right? So far, Omaha has racked up nearly seven inches of rain in September. Nearly two inches came in just the last week. There is nowhere for the rain to go, and there could be a few more inches of rain in our future.
When I go through these numbers, remember they are coming over the course of three days. From the Omaha metro to the south, at least an inch of rain is likely. Some cities to the north might stay in the 0.5″ to 1.0″ range. Odds are high that at least two inches of rain falls from I-80 to the south, and there could be isolated totals approaching four inches.
For the remainder of Monday evening, you could see peeks of blue sky through sunset. Clouds remain thick overnight, but Omaha will stay dry as we start Tuesday. Rain is possible west of the metro Tuesday morning, then scattered showers reach the city by the afternoon and evening commute.
The heaviest rounds of rain will likely be Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, and Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Each of those could produce more than an inch of rain. You might get lucky enough for a couple dry hours around midday Wednesday, but dry time will be at a premium through the middle of the week.
Winds pick up on Thursday as the low pulls away to the east. Gusts could reach 30 mph Thursday afternoon and evening. Typically, those wind speeds do not cause many issues. Since the soil is so water-logged, I would not be surprised if a couple trees get tipped over by from the roots in the gusty winds. Low chances, but possible…