textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- A cluster of thunderstorms will move across western Nebraska into the Sandhills tonight into early Sunday morning.

- Above normal temperatures continue through the holiday weekend, with a chance of thunderstorms late Monday.

- Precipitation chances will decrease towards the middle of the week as high pressure works in and brings relatively cooler temperatures with it.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 347 AM CDT Sun Sep 6 2026

Overnight showers and thunderstorms will be the greatest concern. As the low level jet intensifies overnight expect thunderstorms to increase across southwest Nebraska. Moisture advection will keep PWATs fairly high around 1.5 inches or more through the overnight. A flood watch was issued across portions of southwest Nebraska to account for the higher PWATs and expected slower moving storms, this watch will expire at 4am CT/3am MT. Storm motion increases as the overnight progresses and will start to see the chance for flooding decrease early Sunday.

Showers and thunderstorms may linger through the late morning into early afternoon hours across the eastern portion of the forecast area. After storms exit Sunday temperatures will warm into the 90s, which is around 10 degrees above normal for this time of year.

For Labor Day, the High Plains will remain under the influence of the the upper level ridge and will see another day of hot temperatures with highs reaching the upper 90s across southwest Nebraska. Will see southerly winds strengthen during the day and winds increase to around 20 to 30 mph sustained and gusts up to 40 to 45 mph. Strongest winds will generally be along and east of HWY 83. Expect most of the day will remain dry then a front will move southward Monday evening and stall, where it stalls will become the focus area for showers and thunderstorms Monday evening.

LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/

Issued at 347 AM CDT Sun Sep 6 2026

Deep troughing will cross southern Canada which will flatten mid- level flow for the Central Plains. High pressure aloft will park across the lower Mississippi Valley with much warmer temperatures focused across this area. In a post-frontal regime, surface high pressure will settle south into western Nebraska towards mid-week. This should favor slightly cooler temperatures with decreasing precipitation potential. Upper ridging should develop across the West Coast and return the area to more northwesterly flow before the next disturbance dives southeast out of the Northwest Territories. This will shunt the greatest height anomalies further south and promote even cooler temperatures for the end of the week into early next week. Heights will continue to fall as a more pronounced shortwave trough takes shape over the Pacific Northwest sometime over the following weekend. This feature will cross the Rockies and approach the local area sometime towards the end of the forecast period and should support increasing precipitation chances.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/

Issued at 1243 AM CDT Sun Sep 6 2026

Ongoing convection across western Nebraska will be the primary aviation concern over the next few hours.

Activity continues to approach KOGA with heavy rain producing MVFR and even IFR conditions for brief periods along with strong outflow winds. Activity will continue to push east though recent high resolution guidance suggest it should begin to weaken as it pushes east of Highway 61 corridor. Will carry a TEMPO group at KLBF to account for questionable coverage and intensity and amend as necessary. Any threat should end prior to dawn with only lingering mid-level clouds. Have a short TEMPO group at KVTN to account for outflow winds that may prove gusty but overall have no major impacts at the terminal. Late in the period, believe some LLWS will be possible at both terminals though refinements with later forecasts are probable.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Flood Watch until 3 AM MDT early this morning for NEZ056>058- 069.