textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Severe thunderstorms are expected to develop across north central Nebraska this afternoon and then track southeast across central and perhaps into portions of southwest Nebraska through early this evening.

- Cooler weather is expected Friday along with gusty north winds.

- A return to very warm conditions are expected this weekend along with the possibility of elevated to near critical fire weather conditions.

- A chance for at least some rainfall returns next week with cooler temperatures Tuesday into Wednesday.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 139 AM CDT Thu Jul 30 2026

A potent shortwave will approach the area within westerly flow aloft Thursday, with a round of showers and potential for strong to severe thunderstorms by afternoon. As the wave approaches in the morning, an area surface low pressure will deepen across northwest Nebraska through the day. Backed southeast winds along and east of Highway 83 will keep a very moist and unstable airmass in place. The backed southeast low-level flow will help increase Bulk Shear values into the 40-45 kt range along and east of Highway 83. As temperatures warm and dew points hold in the 70s, a very unstable airmass will develop. Prior to storm development, pockets of surfaced based CAPE values exceeding 4000 J/KG appear likely. Sounding profiles across north central into central Nebraska suggest initial splitting supercell potential, but then should grow upscale rather quickly with a damaging wind threat becoming the main concern as a complex/line of storms accelerates southeastward across portions of north central into central Nebraska. Most of the storms should have exited the area by around 10:00 PM CDT with high pressure nosing into the area overnight Thursday.

Surface high pressure will continue to build into the area through the day Friday. This will bring breezy to locally windy north to northeast winds. Gusts to around 30 mph or so will are expected, especially for areas along and east of Highway 183. It will be somewhat cooler, with highs ranging from the lower 80s across north central Nebraska to the upper 80s across the southwest. Dew points will also be more comfortable as somewhat drier air works into the area from the north. The surface high settles southward and is centered right across the heart of Nebraska Saturday morning. With the drier airmass and light winds, a very comfortable night of lows in the mid to upper 50s are anticipated.

LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 139 AM CDT Thu Jul 30 2026

Saturday, upper level ridging begins to expand north and eastward from the desert southwest. Meanwhile at the surface, high pressure will shift eastward to near the Iowa/Nebraska by Saturday evening. Winds will shift around to the southeast but are not expected to be strong. This should limit any fire weather concerns, even across far western Nebraska and the Panhandle where afternoon humidity drops into the 20-25% range and highs reach into the lower 90s.

Upper level ridging continues to expand across the area Sunday. This will continue to bring more warming temperatures with highs exceeding 90 degrees at all locations. Deepening low pressure across Wyoming ahead of a broad long wave trough across the northern Rockies will bring strong, gusty south winds, particularly west of Highway 83. Highs in these areas will reach the mid to perhaps upper 90s with humidity dropping into the 18-25% range. Even though some areas have received decent rainfall, overall drought conditions make the environment conducive fire weather concerns. These concerns will likely become elevated to near critical across the western Sandhills and the Panhandle Sunday afternoon...due to the combination of gusty winds, very warm temperatures and low humidity.

Monday into the middle of next week the ridge flattens some and along with higher PWAT values returning to the area per ensemble mean/averages. This should bring a return to some chance for rainfall. Still could see some fire weather concerns yet Monday, but these decrease Tuesday into Wednesday as a cold front dives southeast through the area cooling high temperatures back and humidity on the rise.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 1222 PM CDT Thu Jul 30 2026

Scattered thunderstorm will be possible across north central Nebraska by early to mid afternoon, impacting KVTN and move southeastward through the evening. KLBF could possibly be clipped by these thunderstorms as they move southeastward this evening. Gusty, erratic winds and MVFR/IFR conditions will be possible in and around any thunderstorms. Once storms clear out by late evening, winds will become gusty out of the northwest at 10 - 15 kts gusting up to 25 kts across the region. Some low clouds are expected to move in early Friday morning which will bring about a period of MVFR conditions but should clear out Late Friday morning.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.