“We’re seeing kind of a big pattern change by mid-week,” Taylor Nicolaisen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley, said Sunday. “It will be warm and dry to start the week, and then it will be more of a fall pattern.”

Temperatures are expected to rise into the mid-70s in Omaha on Monday. Tuesday, Nicolaisen said, will be even warmer and have an outside chance of threatening a record for that date with a high of 85 forecast for Omaha. The record of 90 degrees dates from 1937.

Lincoln will likely approach or surpass his record of 87 on Tuesday, also set in 1937. The high for Lincoln is expected to be 85. The typical temperature this time of year in Omaha is 60 degrees and 39.

The warm and dry conditions in combination with gusts of wind will pose a fire risk. Both Monday and Tuesday are expected to be ‘windy and hot’. High humidity levels, around 40% on Monday, will help alleviate some of the concerns.

Tuesday is expected to have the greatest chance of fire danger in the forecast period. Much of southeastern Nebraska and southwestern Iowa will be threatened by strong winds from the southwest that could reach between 40 and 50 miles per hour.

The chance of rain finally arrives in eastern Nebraska late Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, Nicolaisen said. The forecast is for a 70% chance of precipitation, with high temperatures forecast in the mid-60s and lows in the upper 30s.

“We’re probably going to see some rain, about a quarter inch,” he said. “It’s not a drought breaker, but we could hear some thunder and even see a chance of severe weather.”

Halloween on Thursday is expected to see high temperatures in the mid-50s. Conditions are predicted to be dry and about perfect for goblins, witches and other small monsters.

“It looks really decent for Halloween,” Nicolaisen said. “It will be dry and around 50 degrees at sunset, and it will drop into the 40s for trick-or-treaters.”

The dry weather will continue into Friday, with high temperatures dropping back into the 60s in Omaha and lows expected in the mid-40s. A new weather system moving in from the west will bring a chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday.

“There are some chances for precipitation to creep back (into the area) on Saturday and Sunday,” Nicolaisen said. “There will be chances of rain, but they are not great at the moment.”