textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Some elevated fire weather concerns across portions of southwest Nebraska Wednesday afternoon.

- Some light snow potential enters the picture Thursday through Saturday morning.

- Ridging appears to take hold across the western U.S. by Sunday. Should see an area-wide warm up as this occurs.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 339 PM CST Mon Jan 26 2026

Drier, warmer air has spread eastward off the Rockies this afternoon as surface high pressure has quickly moved south into Texas. Temperatures have warmed into the mid and upper 30s to lower 40s as of 2pm CDT. Humidity values have tanked, and are running around 17% from Valentine through Ainsworth and O'Neill areas. There is a snow free area generally south of Highway 20 and north of Highway 2 across north central Nebraska. Fire concerns will remain elevated here for the remainder of the afternoon. Humidity recovers nicely tonight, with most areas seeing readings above 90%.

Tuesday, a shortwave will track southeast across the Great Lakes region. Another arctic high will slide down the Missouri River Valley through the Dakotas and into eastern Nebraska. This will back a cold front into the northeast section of the area. The front will stall from around Valentine to Broken Bow. Northeast of this line highs will remain mostly in the mid 20s, meanwhile areas to the west will once again see highs in the mid 30s to lower 40s. Little fire weather threat with virtually no wind and higher humidity.

On Wednesday, the front will attempt to move eastward with a push of westerly downslope winds expected. At this time fire weather concerns look limited due to the overall weak low-level westerly flow. Southwest Nebraska will see highs reach into the upper 40s to near 50, and local gusts of 15 to 20 mph are expected. As humidity drops to around 25% during the afternoon some limited concern will be there.

LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/

Issued at 339 PM CST Mon Jan 26 2026

Northwest flow aloft will continue Thursday into the upcoming weekend. A couple of weak shortwave disturbances will move southeast within the flow. There will continue to be a stationary boundary anchored northwest to southeast across the area. An area of mid- level FGEN will increase Thursday into the weekend in the vicinity of the boundary. This will bring some increase in precipitation/snow chances to the area. ENS/GEFS probabilities are high for a light dusting or a couple of tenths of an inch of snow accumulation. Confident that much of the area will likely see at least a dusting of snow. Chances decrease considerably as we approach more appreciable amounts of 1"+. So, at this time, it appears it won't be a big deal but there will be a good chance for a dusting or very light accumulation.

As mentioned there remains the stationary front, with continued colder conditions across eastern Nebraska and warmer across western portions of the state. By Sunday, strong ridging takes hold across western Nebraska, and should see a significant warm up across all of western and north central Nebraska.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z TUESDAY/

Issued at 1154 AM CST Mon Jan 26 2026

VFR conditions will prevail across all of western and north central Nebraska this afternoon through Tuesday morning. Winds will be west at 10-20 kts today becoming light tonight into Tuesday morning.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.