http://journalstar.com/news/local/lincol...8a47d96754.htmlTwo days after Lincoln recorded a record low temperature and less than two weeks after the city saw significant snow, thermometers soared Tuesday.
Lincoln Airport posted a 100-degree reading at 2:33 p.m., crushing the date's record high of 96 set in 1915.
It's the earliest Lincoln has ever reached 100 degrees. The previous earliest 100-degree temperature in Lincoln came on May 24, 1967.
Records fell across the region. Omaha hit 101. Grand Island hit 102. Norfolk went to 103.
Farther north, Sioux City, Iowa, reached a May record of 106.
Tekamah, between Sioux City and Omaha, hit 107.
Watching temperatures soar throughout the day was very interesting, said Barbara Mayes of the National Weather Service in Omaha. Over six hours, Norfolk's temperature shot from 58 to 102.
Temperatures were able to rise so quickly because dry air was prevalent in both the warm southwest air mass that swept into the region and the cold Canadian air mass it replaced. Dry air, Mayes said, allows temperatures to rise more quickly.
Lincoln's humidity of 14 percent, combined with an air temperature of 99, meant the heat index -- what it feels like -- was only 95 degrees.
According to Accuweather, a huge temperature swing within such a short time frame is quite rare for the mid-May. Such a change is more likely to happen in March or early April.
Temperatures will return to near normal Wednesday. Later in the week, showers and thunderstorms will become more likely.
