textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Cold temperatures may lead to frost and freezing temperatures with the greatest threat generally west of highway 83.

- Temperatures will be below normal through Friday with warmer readings expected Saturday through Monday.

- Best precipitation chances are Thursday night through Friday.

SYNOPSIS

Issued at 327 PM CDT Mon May 18 2026

H5 analysis this morning had high pressure anchored to the north of the Bahamas. Ridging extended north of this feature into the Mid- Atlantic and western Quebec. West of the ridge, broad southwesterly flow extended across the eastern half of the CONUS to the central and southern plains. Low pressure was located over central Utah with a trough extending south into eastern Arizona. A second shortwave trough was located over southern Saskatchewan and extended south into north central Montana. Further west, a ridge of high pressure extended across British Columbia north into the Yukon and western portions of the NW Territories of Canada. At the surface this afternoon, low pressure was located over southeastern Minnesota. A cold front extended south, then southwest of this feature into far SE Nebraska and SW Kansas. High pressure was anchored over northern Montana this afternoon. Winds were from the north or northeast across the forecast area this afternoon. Drizzle and very light rainfall was present across the area and temperatures ranged from 40 degrees at Gordon to 45 degrees at Ogallala.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 327 PM CDT Mon May 18 2026

Weak forcing will remain in place across northwestern and northern portions of the forecast area this evening with a lingering threat for precipitation. This threat will end during the overnight hours as weak high pressure builds into Wyoming and the Nebraska Panhandle. This will result in some limited clearing, especially over western portions of the forecast area overnight. With lows forecast around the freezing mark, generally west of highway 61, decided to hoist a freeze warning for locations generally west of highway 61 tonight. Further east, overnight lows will bottom out in the 33 to 35 degree range and decided to hoist a frost advisory. This was in areas where the threat for freeze conditions is limited and cloud cover may become more of a factor overnight. Will we see frost in the advisory area remains uncertain and the latest NBM ensembles only have a 25 to 50 percent chance for sub 34 degree temps along the highway 83 corridor tonight so the advisory is a low to medium confidence advisory. On Tuesday, high pressure will nose into the forecast area from the west leading to limited clearing Tuesday afternoon. Highs Tuesday will struggle to get out of the upper 50s to lower 60s across the area which is 10 to 15 degrees below normal for this time of year. High pressure will slide east into Iowa Tuesday night shifting winds to the south. A weak boundary will lift north overnight into southern Nebraska. At the same time, a weak upper level disturbance will emerge from the central Rockies into northeastern Colorado. Light precipitation will develop in advance of this feature and along the frontal boundary overnight Tuesday night. This will lead to a small threat for precipitation mainly over western and southwestern Nebraska overnight. Further northeast, skies will be mainly clear overnight, and with light winds expected and lows in the middle 30s, will have to watch out for frost potential in the NE forecast area Wednesday morning.

LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/

Issued at 327 PM CDT Mon May 18 2026

A stationary front over southern Kansas, will lift north as a warm front on Wednesday. Showers and thunderstorms will develop INVOF this feature Wednesday into WEdnesday night as it lifts north into central and northern Kansas. Some very light precipitation north of the warm front, mainly drizzle, may impact southern portions of the forecast area Wednesday night. Any precipitation amounts will be very light across the area and precipitation chances will be limited to slight and low end chance pops. A potent mid level trough will slide east from the central and northern Rockies Thursday into Thursday night. In advance of this feature, low level moisture advection will increase across the forecast area with low level dew points approaching the lower 50s. As this feature emerges onto the high plains Thursday night, the latest deterministic GFS and EC solns develop a decent chance for precipitation Thursday night through Friday night. The current NBM forecast does have some low likely pops Thursday night into Friday across the forecast area. Given the forecast QPF's and the QPF probabilities from the NBM ensembles, likely pops seem justified attm. Conditions will begin to dry out after Friday as a more zonal low amplitude pattern develops across the western CONUS. Temperatures will warm back into the 70s for Saturday, then 80s for Sunday and Monday.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 637 PM CDT Mon May 18 2026

Cigs will remain low the rest of the evening into early tomorrow morning with MVFR to IFR conditions. There will be a chance for light scattered rain showers as well this evening, with brief visibility drops around 3 miles. Winds will remain out of the north to northwest around 10 to 15 kts with gusts up to 25 kts this evening. Winds will briefly be around 5 kts after midnight, before returning to around 10 kts with gusts up to 20 kts Tuesday morning. Cigs will begin to lift by Tuesday morning with a return to VFR conditions.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Freeze Warning from 1 AM CDT /midnight MDT/ to 9 AM CDT /8 AM MDT/ Tuesday for NEZ004-022>024-035-036-056-057-094. Frost Advisory from 1 AM CDT /midnight MDT/ to 9 AM CDT /8 AM MDT/ Tuesday for NEZ005-006-008-025-026-037-058-059-069-070.