textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Snow and blowing snow is expected across northeastern areas today into tonight.

- Bitter cold conditions are expected tonight generally along and north of highway 92.

- Very windy conditions will persist through the weekend.

- Near Critical fire weather conditions are likely, with critical fire weather conditions possible across far southwestern Nebraska Saturday afternoon.

- Temperatures will be highly variable Monday through Friday next week.

SYNOPSIS

Issued at 331 PM CST Fri Jan 16 2026

H5 analysis this morning had a highly amplified pattern across the CONUS and Canada. High pressure was anchored just off the west coast of Oregon. A high amplitude ridge extended north of this feature into eastern Alaska and the Yukon. Downstream of this feature a tandem of lows were noted. One over northern Quebec and a second over western Ontario. From these two features, a longwave trough of low pressure extended south to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. On the periphery of the Ontario low, two distinct strong shortwaves were noted. The first over northeastern Iowa and a second over southwestern Manitoba. At the surface, low pressure was located roughly over western portions of the UP of Michigan. A cold front extended south of this feature into Illinois and southeastern Missouri. A second arctic cold front extended southwest from the low into southern Nebraska, then northwest into western portions of South Dakota. Very windy conditions were present across the area with snow showers present across portions of north central Nebraska and the eastern Nebraska Sandhills. Wind gusts as of 2 PM CST were as high as 60 MPH at Ogallala and 61 MPH at Grant. Temperatures as of 2 PM CST ranged from 21 degrees at O'Neill to 35 degrees at Imperial.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY/

Issued at 331 PM CST Fri Jan 16 2026

High winds will continue to be a concern across the area tonight. The latest high res guidance and deterministic solns indicate a gradual decreasing of wind gust speeds commencing around 00z Saturday. This aligns pretty well with the latest high wind warning which expires at 00z Saturday. Thanks to an arctic front and strong cold air advection overnight, winds will remain gusty into the overnight with gusts speeds decreasing to the 30 to 40 MPH range overnight. With the degree of winds and overnight lows ranging from around zero over northern Nebraska to 5 to 10 degrees along and south of Interstate 80, wind chills will reach 10 to 25 below zero across the area by Saturday morning. This will necessitate a cold advisory for locations generally north of highway 91 and 2 tonight. Gusty winds will continue through the first half of Saturday, before diminishing somewhat Saturday afternoon. This is in response to surface high pressure building into northern, then central Nebraska Saturday afternoon. For a brief period Saturday afternoon, we have minimum RH's around 15 percent with wind gusts to 25 MPH over far southwestern Nebraska. After collaborating with our neighbors to the south and west, will probably end up issuing a RFW for far SW Nebraska for Saturday afternoon. Surface high pressure will quickly build south of the area early Saturday evening, shifting winds to the west overnight and forcing a warm front into western portions of the forecast area. Early Sunday, a cold front will then pass through the forecast area. Strong winds will accompany passage of this frontal boundary. FWIW, the latest NBM ensemble probabilities have a better than 60% chance of 50+ MPH winds Sunday morning over portions of north central, central and far western Nebraska. There is some support for even stronger winds Sunday morning with the latest NAM soln. ATTM, not planning any wind headlines for Saturday night/Sunday, but will mention the threat in the HWO and social media with this afternoon's package.

LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/

Issued at 331 PM CST Fri Jan 16 2026

A highly amplified pattern will continue across the CONUS through Monday with Ridging extending up the west coast and a broad trough of low pressure impacting the eastern 3/4ths of the United States. Toward the middle of the week, ridging de- amplifies along the west coast, allowing the arctic air mass to retreat north into the upper Midwest and northern tier of states. This will result in a brief warmup on Tuesday across the forecast area with readings reaching the 50s in the west and southwest. The warmup will be short-lived however as another shot of arctic air drops south from central Canada into the plains and upper midwest. Highs after Tuesday, will be well below normal with readings mainly in the 20s and 30s across the area. For the most part, dry conditions are expected next week. However there is some deterministic model data, indicating a threat for light snow late next week into next weekend. So far, the latest NBM only has some meager slight chance pops across the north for Friday.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SUNDAY/

Issued at 1154 PM CST Fri Jan 16 2026

Lingering light snow continues across north central Nebraska with impacts probable at VTN. Have included a brief period of IFR conditions with active and blowing snow but will monitor trends to see if impacts fall short of this magnitude. Otherwise, expecting low stratus to envelope much of western Nebraska. Conditions should improve by late morning Saturday with a return to VFR conditions expected.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 331 PM CST Fri Jan 16 2026

Critical fire weather conditions are likely Saturday afternoon over zone 210. Winds will be gusty Saturday and with very dry air in place (surface dew points of -10 to -15F) over western Nebraska, minimum RH will fall off to around 15 percent Saturday afternoon. Have issued a Red Flag Warning for zone 210 from 11 AM to 5 PM MST.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Cold Weather Advisory until 11 AM CST /10 AM MST/ Saturday for NEZ004>010-023>029-094. Red Flag Warning from noon CST /11 AM MST/ to 6 PM CST /5 PM MST/ Saturday for NEZ204-210. Winter Weather Advisory until midnight CST tonight for NEZ005>010-026>029-038.