textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- An isolated threat of showers and thunderstorms into early Thursday morning.

- Elevated fire weather concerns on Friday. - Temperatures in the 90s continue through the weekend and into early next week.

- A more active weather pattern returns late this weekend through mid week. This will bring a return of precipitation chances, as well as more seasonal to slightly above seasonal temperatures.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/

Issued at 231 AM CDT Thu Sep 3 2026

The main concern in the short term are the thunderstorm chances early this morning. Thunderstorms are expected to continue to move east/northeast across the Nebraska Panhandle into portions of western Nebraska and the Sandhills early this morning. The environment the storms will be moving into will have DCAPE values around 1000 to 1500 J/kg through sunrise and will support the potential for strong, gusty winds should a storm strengthen and sustain itself early this morning. There have already been several reports on personal weather stations of 40 to 45 mph wind gusts from with storms in this environment. The area of greatest concern for stronger wind gusts will be west of HWY 83 and north of I-80. Convection should begin to taper off after sunrise then expect the remainder of Thursday to be dry. The upper level ridge will continue to build Thursday and Friday and will see temperatures well above normal for this time of year, around 10 to 15 degrees above, with highs in the 90s. Friday will be the warmest day of the week with highs reaching the upper 90s across southwest Nebraska. Will have to continue to monitor if any heat headlines will be needed as highs approach near 100 and dewpoints east of HWY 83 will be in the low 60s.

There will be elevated fire weather concerns on Friday for areas west of HWY 83 where drier air will be in place and min RH will range near 20 to 25 percent. Winds will also be breezy out of the southeast around 15 to 20 mph sustained and gusts around 30 mph or greater.

LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 231 AM CDT Thu Sep 3 2026

Upper level ridging persists on Friday night, with a shortwave tracking through the upper level flow. This is expected to push a surface low across the region, which may kick up a few showers and potentially some thunderstorms overnight. Ensemble guidance continues to suggest that these showers will produce very little rain, with ensembles still maintaining a less than 20 percent chance of exceeding one tenth of an inch. However, these showers may bring a few hundredths of an inch across portions of the region.

Saturday afternoon, still expecting very warm temperatures across the region, with highs pushing into the 90s. Another shortwave may track through the upper level flow, bringing low end precipitation chances during the afternoon hours. However, by the evening into the nighttime hours, precipitation chances will increase. Guidance continues to trend to the more progressive trough solutions, which is prompting the earlier and increasing trends in precipitation. Ensembles are even coming into better consensus, now bringing a 30 percent chance of exceeding one tenth of an inch Saturday night across portions of western and north central Nebraska.

The upper level trough continues to track east on Sunday, bringing a fairly active weather pattern through at least mid week. As the trough approaches on Sunday, expecting stronger upper level winds to approach the region, placing an area of divergence aloft. This will further help a surface low to deepen, increasing precipitation chances Sunday evening into the overnight hours. Ensemble guidance Sunday night brings a 40 percent chance of precipitation exceeding one tenth of an inch, which continues to be a slight upward trend from previous runs.

As the upper level trough continues to track to the northeast, expecting to see slight ridging across the south, with the trough riding the north end of the ridge. This is expected to place the stronger upper level winds across South Dakota, with several shortwaves tracking through the flow. With the stronger upper level support, will see continued precipitation chances, especially in the evening and overnight hours through at least mid week. With subtle ridging remaining across the southern United States, expect to see more seasonal to slightly above seasonal temperatures return. In general, expecting the warmer temperatures to remain across the southern portions of the region, but even then, this may be around 5 degrees above normal.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 624 AM CDT Thu Sep 3 2026

VFR conditions are expected to prevail across western and north central Nebraska today and tonight. A batch of showers and thunderstorms is currently tracking across the northern Sandhills, causing brief periods of gusty and erratic winds. Ceilings under these showers are remaining VFR, though. These showers are expected to track out of the region this morning, with cloud cover clearing out this morning. WInds may become gusty out of the west this afternoon, especially across the Sandhills and portions of north central Nebraska. Winds will quickly calm this evening, as a low level inversion develops, leaving light winds overnight.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.