While much of Nebraska will likely be dealing with heavy snow this weekend, rain could be more of a problem for Lincoln and surrounding areas.
As of Friday afternoon, the National Weather Service was predicting heavy rain for the Lincoln area on Saturday, with potentially an inch or more before it starts changing over to snow, likely sometime Saturday afternoon.
Becky Kern, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley, said heavy rain is likely along the Interstate 80 corridor, "from Seward all the way to the Missouri River."
And that could be a problem with the ground frozen.
Kern said temperatures will stay high enough that ice forming on roads will not be an issue on Saturday, but because the ground is frozen, the rain will run off rather than soaking in, which could lead to localized flooding if the rain is heavy enough.
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"It's kind of rare that we get this much water this time of year," Kern said.
In areas where the temperature stays in the mid-to-upper 30s, that's going to mean a lot of rain. In areas where the temperature is lower, it's likely to mean a lot of snow.
Northeast Nebraska, a large chunk of central Nebraska and northwest Nebraska are likely to see 10 inches or more of snow through Sunday. Strong winds could also be an issue, with gusts of up to 35 mph possible.
Brian Barjenbruch, science and operations officer for the National Weather Service in Valley, said this will be a significant winter storm for many areas of the state.
"This is going to be a doozy," he said during a conference call Friday afternoon.
Many areas of the state are in a winter storm warning, and the Weather Service says some areas of north-central Nebraska could see up to 17 inches of snow.
As of Friday evening, there were no warnings or advisories for Lancaster County.
Barjenbruch said most areas of the state will see rain first, and the amount of snow they get will depend on when the rain changes over.
He said that changeover could vary by as much as three hours earlier or later than what's predicted, "which will greatly affect your snow amounts."
Barjenbruch said the Weather Service has "moderate to high confidence" about the storm's track and "pretty high confidence" on where the most snow will be.
That's not likely to be Lincoln. The official forecast is for 2 inches of snow through Sunday evening, with a potential range from 0 to 6 inches.
Barjenbruch said the storm should be over in Nebraska by Sunday night.
With temperatures in the 20s forecast for next week, "it looks like any new snow we do get is probably going to stay around awhile," he said.