Extreme cold is expected to be the primary concern this week in Omaha, eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa.

"The cold is going to be the big thing (Monday), especially with school back in session," Van DeWald, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley, said Sunday. "It's going to be cold at those bus stops but there's no precipitation in the forecast all week."

Dry air moving in a northeasterly direction kept snow out of Omaha on Sunday. The highest totals of snow were expected to fall Sunday in southeast Nebraska along the Iowa and Missouri borders.

"Omaha was always going to be on the edge of this storm," DeWald said. "The dry air moving in kept eating away, eating away (at precipitation) due to that persistent northeast flow."

The coldest wind chills of the season are forecast Monday in Omaha when the thermometer is not expected to rise above 18 degrees. A wind chill of 10-below zero is predicted.

The wind chill temperature, according to the National Weather Service, is how cold people and animals feel when outside. Wind chill is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin caused by wind and cold.

As the wind increases, it draws heat from the body, driving down skin temperature and eventually the internal body temperature. Therefore, the wind makes it feel much colder.

A wind chill calculator will tell you that if the temperature is 0°F and the wind is blowing at 15 mph, the wind chill is -19°F. At that wind chill temperature, exposed skin can freeze in 30 minutes.

"We are predicting highs of 18 Monday and Tuesday with a high temperature of 21 on Wednesday," DeWald said. "We are looking at highs of 31 Thursday and Friday." Temperatures through the weekend are forecast to remain below normal. The typical high for this time of year in Omaha is 34 degrees with an average low of 16.

"January in Nebraska, right?" DeWald said. "It's no surprise that it's going to be cold."

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