textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Strong north winds persist into this evening, leading to near critical fire weather concerns across the area.

- Well above average temperatures return this weekend and early next week, bringing a return of near critical to critical fire weather conditions.

- A Fire Weather Watch is in effect for all of western and north central Nebraska on Saturday, due to warm, dry and, very windy conditions expected.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 329 PM CDT Thu Mar 26 2026

A cold front has pushed off to the south of the area, with strong northeasterly winds across the area in its wake. Wind gusts of 30 to 40 miles per hour are expected to persist through late afternoon, before beginning to weaken this evening. By tonight, surface high pressure will begin to move south into the area, further weakening the northerly winds. The approach of this surface high will also allow for better radiational cooling, and lows overnight look to fall into the 20s for all.

The surface high begins to slowly push east into eastern Nebraska by late tomorrow afternoon, with winds gradually shifting back to the south from west to east. The close proximity of the high pressure center should keep winds weaker tomorrow, and this looks to briefly limit fire weather concerns. That said, the very dry airmass in place will still allow for minimum humidity values to fall into the teens to low 20s tomorrow afternoon despite highs in the upper 40s to 50s. Lows tomorrow night fall into the upper 20s to 30s again, with south winds quickly strengthening after midnight.

LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/

Issued at 329 PM CDT Thu Mar 26 2026

Attention then turns to a much more concerning fire weather day for Saturday. As the upper ridge axis upstream across the western CONUS begins to flatten out, broad surface cyclogenesis is expected to strengthen across eastern Colorado. With the area still positioned between the departing surface high and the deepening surface low pressure to the west, the surface pressure gradient is expected to constrict considerably. This should lead to strengthening south winds as early as Saturday morning across the entire area. With poor overnight humidity recovery Friday night into Saturday, this should lead to a quick onset of critical fire conditions by late Saturday morning. As southerly winds gust as high as 40 to 50 miles per hour through the afternoon Saturday, temperatures climbing into the upper 60s to 70s will push humidity into the teens. This overlap looks to provide a concerning fire weather setup, and a Fire Weather Watch is in effect for all of western and north central Nebraska on Saturday.

The well above average temperatures persist into Sunday and early next week, and with this the fire weather concerns will likely persist as well. Sunday will be the warmest day, with highs again in the middle to upper 80s and challenging daily records. With a combination of very warm, dry, and windy conditions, fire weather headlines may be needed again as we head into the back half of the weekend and early next week.

A pattern shift is then still expected as we head into middle to late next week. This is as deep upper troughing establishes across the western CONUS, and slowly migrates eastwards by next weekend. Confidence in the location and any amounts of precipitation expected remains very low for now. Trends will continue to be monitored, but this could at least lead to a brief reprieve from the daily threats for critical fire weather conditions across the area.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 1225 PM CDT Thu Mar 26 2026

Low stratus with MVFR/locally IFR CIGs persists across western and northern Nebraska, with improvement back to VFR expected by late afternoon. VFR conditions are then expected to prevail this evening through tomorrow morning for all of western and north central Nebraska.

Winds remain strong from the north through late afternoon, with gusts of 25 to 35kts for all terminals. Winds then weaken tonight, but remain northerly at 10 to 15kts.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 329 PM CDT Thu Mar 26 2026

Strong north winds will keep fire weather conditions near critical today, though cooler temperatures will keep humidity values elevated above critical thresholds. The cooler temperatures persist through tomorrow, though weaker winds look to limit fire concerns somewhat.

Attention then turns to this weekend, as temperatures quickly return back to well above average by Saturday. Critical fire weather conditions are possible on Saturday, as very low humidity overlaps south winds gusting as high as 50 miles per hour. A Fire Weather Watch is in effect for all of western and north central Nebraska on Saturday.

Near critical to potentially critical fire conditions then continue for Sunday and into early next week, with well above average temperatures, very low humidity, and gusty winds expected. A pattern shift is then expected for middle to late next week, and this could bring a return of wetting moisture to western and north central Nebraska.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Fire Weather Watch from Saturday morning through Saturday evening for NEZ204-206-208>210-219.