textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Cool and breezy conditions continue into this weekend, with highs in the 40s to low 50s expected.

- Light rain is possible for areas south of Interstate 80 Saturday night into Sunday, with accumulations generally 0.10" or less.

- Temperatures warm back into the 50s to low 60s for midweek, along with breezy southeast winds continuing.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 145 PM CST Fri Nov 13 2026

Currently, stratus continues to erode across portions of western and southwest Nebraska, leading to a wide range in current temperatures. Temperatures range from the upper 30s under the stratus to the upper 40s to lower 50s elsewhere. Winds are breezy from the southeast, with gusts as high as 20 to 25 miles per hour.

For tonight, expect the aforementioned low stratus to continue to erode by late afternoon. This looks to be short lived, however, as continued southeasterly flow/isentropic ascent overnight will lead to another expansion in low cloudiness across western Nebraska. The breezy southeasterly winds look to stick around through much of the weekend, as the area remains positioned between strong surface high pressure in the Ohio Valley and broad surface low pressure along the lee of the Rockies. This leads to a tightened surface pressure gradient across the area from west to east, and will keep the breezy southeast winds going through much of the next few days.

The next feature of note look to arrive by Saturday night, as an upper trough begins to eject southeast out of the Rockies and into the Southern Plains. This suggests the area will largely miss out on any beneficial moisture, though a glancing blow of light rain remains possible south of I-80. Probabilistic guidance supports this notion, with the probability of even measurable (>0.01") precipitation quickly falling to less than 5% for areas north of I- 80. The greatest probabilities for even modest (>0.10") amounts maximize near the HWY 6 corridor, though these only peak at ~20-30%. The greatest impact will be increasing cloud cover and a very cool Saturday, with highs in the 40s. Add in the breezy southeast winds, and afternoon wind chill values will struggle to leave the upper 30s to lower 40s.

The system quickly departs by Sunday morning, with dry conditions returning to western and north central Nebraska. A return of sunny skies, combined with the persistent south winds, will allow temperatures to rebound slightly Sunday afternoon. Highs in the upper 40s to lower 50s can be expected across the area.

LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/

Issued at 145 PM CST Fri Nov 13 2026

Upper ridging begins to amplify across the central Plains as we head into early next week, with deep upper troughing noted across the western US. This brings a return of southwesterly flow aloft by Tuesday, and with it temperatures moderating back to above average by midweek. Wednesday looks to be the warmest of the week, as warm advection further strengthens ahead of an approaching cold front. This looks to boost highs into the upper 50s to lower 60s, with the warmest temps east of HWY 61. The aforementioned cold front is in response to the first of a pair of upper lows, as it ejects northeast out of the Rockies and an associated surface low moves across the Dakotas. This could lead to light rain north of HWY 2, though confidence in this remains low for now.

Guidance continues to hint at another system approaching the area by late week and into next weekend, though solutions diverge greatly with respect to both track and strength. This lends very low confidence, especially with timing and amounts of any associated precipitation. That said, this does look to be the next shot at any beneficial moisture locally, along with some threat for strong winds, and will continue to be monitored closely. Until details become more clear, amounts and precipitation types will remain uncertain late week across western and north central Nebraska.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SUNDAY/

Issued at 539 PM CST Fri Nov 13 2026

Lingering stratus will clear out of the region later this evening across far western Nebraska. This will give way to largely VFR conditions with some MVFR conditions possible across north central Nebraska and the eastern Panhandle. South to southeasterly winds are expected to increase overnight along with the redevelopment of low stratus clouds. This will lead to some MVFR/isolated IFR conditions across western Nebraska. Some patchy fog could develop across the panhandle but should stay west of both terminals. Gusty winds will continue through the day Saturday at 10 to 15, gusting up to 30 knots.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.