textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Isolated to scattered light rain showers will be possible Wednesday afternoon into the evening across portions of north central Nebraska, with the highest possibility being across Boyd and Holt counties.

- Near normal to slightly below normal daytime highs are forecasted Wednesday and Thursday.

- Highs steadily climb from near seasonal on Friday to above seasonal by early next week.

- Precipitation chances remain low through the weekend into the middle of next week.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 233 AM CST Wed Nov 4 2026

There are two closed lows aloft moving across CONUS. The trailing low is tumbling across the Rockies while the lead low will remain stationed over the northern Great Plains, just northeast of our CWA. The latter is helping create a sharp gradient between a low cloud layer across the east and drier air further west. With this knowledge, along with northwesterly winds, have opted to lower overnight/early morning Wednesday lows across western Nebraska to the upper 20s, with the Platte River Valley potentially reaching as low as the mid 20s. Patchy to locally dense fog is has developed and is expected to remain through the early morning hours today along the northeastern portions of the CWA, with it being the most dense along the SD/NE border. Below climatological highs are likely across the region with the south west reaching the mid 50s while further north, reaching the upper 40s. North central Nebraska particularly will be 5 to 7 degrees below normal. An embedded shortwave is forecasted to track around the western edge of the upper low through eastern South Dakota and into the northeastern portions of Nebraska Wednesday afternoon into the evening hours. This will bring a about the potential of isolated chances of light rain. While recent models have light showers reaching as far west as Valentine, general consensus for the highest rain chances remains along Boyd and Holt counties, with only a couple hundredths of rain expected.

Heading into Thursday, both upper lows are forecasted to weaken and absorb into the mean flow. While still remaining a trough as it moves across the central Plains. H850 temps are forecasted to remain fairly modest at 6 to 12 degrees Celsius, with the higher side being confined closer to the Panhandle. This should help daytime highs Thursday remain near climatological norms in the 50s across western Nebraska even with the upper trough overhead.

LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/

Issued at 233 AM CST Wed Nov 4 2026

An upper level shortwave tracks across north central North Dakota on Friday, with height rises following in its wake through the weekend. This will support temperatures staying around seasonal on Friday, with highs continuing to climb through the weekend. For Friday, mostly expecting highs in the mid 50s, though could still see some cooler highs across north central Nebraska, where greater cloud cover could limit highs to the upper 40s. By the weekend, expect highs push into the upper 50s to lower 60s as subtle ridging builds across the northern Plains. With the ridging in place, no precipitation is expected this weekend.

Looking ahead to early next week, an upper level low tracks across the southern Plains, with upper level ridging tracking across the northern Plains. This will continue to support a dry pattern. In fact, ensemble guidance shows virtually no chances for precipitation through at least the middle of next week. Temperatures are also expected to be slightly above normal with this ridging. Highs early next week are expected to push into the lower to mid 60s, which is around 10 degrees normal than usual for this time of year. However, some of the warmer guidance does suggest potential that we could see highs pushing into the upper 60s, particularly on Monday and Wednesday.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY/

Issued at 1120 AM CST Wed Nov 4 2026

VFR conditions are expected across most of western and north-central Nebraska over the next 24 hours. The exception will be across portions of north-central Nebraska, where some lower stratus and light rain showers remain possible through the afternoon and evening hours. Northwest winds will increase through the afternoon, especially across the Sandhills into north-central Nebraska, with sustained winds of 15 to 20 knots and gusts up to 30 knots possible. Gusty northwest winds will persist overnight into Thursday morning, though gusts should gradually diminish to around 20 knots. Mid to upper-level cloud cover will increase across the area overnight, though VFR conditions are expected to prevail despite the increasing cloud cover.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.