textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Moderate confidence in stronger wind gusts up to 40 MPH this afternoon and into the evening.

- A benign weather pattern is expected Sunday through Thursday with little to no precipitation expected.

- Windy conditions are possible Monday with some gusts approaching 40 MPH in the Sandhills and northern Nebraska.

- Temperatures will be well above normal Monday through Thursday with daily highs generally in the mid 70s to lower 80s, some 10 to 15 degrees above normal for the first week of October.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY/

Issued at 314 AM CDT Fri Oct 2 2026

Strong high pressure will continue to build into the region today keeping conditions dry. As high pressure starts to slide off to the east, surface low pressure will allow to build across the northern Plains. This will cause a tightening of the pressure gradient across central Nebraska by the afternoon and into the evening resulting in some stronger wind gusts. Southerly winds will increase into the 35 to 40 mph gust range by late afternoon mainly confined to areas west of an Ogallala to Ainsworth line. While winds begin to diminish overnight, some stronger gusts up to 30 mph could be possible across northern Nebraska into Saturday morning. Otherwise, dry conditions will persist through Saturday night.

As high pressure pushes off to the east, some warm air advection will filter into portions of north central Nebraska allowing surface temperatures to moderate a little across northwest Nebraska today. Expect highs to range from the mid 70s across the Pine Ridge to the low 60s in central Nebraska. As the warmer airmass continues to filter into the area, highs will continue to rise through the beginning of the weekend. Highs will easily rise into the 70s with some isolated locations in southwest Nebraska rising into the low 80s. Overnight lows will remain above normals (low 40s) in the mid 40s to low 50s through Saturday night as the warmer air settles into the region.

LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/

Issued at 314 AM CDT Fri Oct 2 2026

Cool Canadian high pressure will nose into the Dakotas and northeastern portions of Nebraska overnight Saturday night. Looking at the wind fields with this feature, northerly winds look to not totally decouple across the eastern half of the forecast area by Sunday morning. Further west however, winds appear to become light and variable over the western third of the forecast area late Saturday night. The latest MET and MAV guidance for Sunday morning are indicating upper 30s over northwestern portions of the forecast area. These numbers are below the 10% ile with the latest NBM fcst tonight. With this in mind, I did trend down lows in the west and northwest slightly Sunday morning, but not as far as the MET and MAV guidance would suggest. With the high pressure building into eastern Nebraska Sunday, highs will be the coolest of the extended period with readings only reaching the middle 60s in the east and around 70 in the west. On Monday, high pressure will build east of the area into the upper Mississippi valley. At the same time, a trough of low pressure will deepen from eastern Wyoming into eastern Colorado. This will place the most of the forecast area in a tight surface pressure gradient Monday afternoon. Based on the deterministic GFS soln tonight and NBM ensembles, wind gusts may approach 40 MPH in the Sandhills Monday afternoon. Gusty southerly winds will increase low level warm air advection across the area beginning Monday. Highs will reach well into the 70s to around 80 Monday afternoon. This will be followed by even warmer temperatures for Tuesday and Wednesday with highs Tuesday in the upper 70s to middle 80s and mid 70s to lower 80s for Wednesday and Thursday. The latest MEX guidance for North Platte has a high of 93 for Tuesday, which would break the record of 91. Currently the NBM has a high of 82 which is just under the 50th percentile of the NBM ensemble spread. Will need to monitor forecast trends especially as the GFS tonight has a minor ridge breakdown Tuesday which would mean the current NBM forecast of 82 would more than likely need to be adjusted higher. As mentioned earlier, after Tuesday, temperatures will be slightly cooler for Wednesday and Thursday, albeit still around 10 degrees above climatology for the first week of October.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 1145 PM CDT Thu Oct 1 2026

Expect mainly clear skies over the next 24 hours at the KLBF terminal. For the KVTN terminal, expect broken mid level clouds to develop by 08Z and persist through 15Z Friday morning. Skies will be mostly clear there after. Winds will increase from the south at both terminals mid morning Friday persisting into the early evening hours Friday. Gusts may approach 25 KTS at the KLBF terminal and 30 KTS at the KVTN terminal. Winds will subside somewhat Friday evening, with low level wind shear possible at the KVTN terminal after 02z Saturday.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.