textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Cooler and drier air will spread southward across the area through Thursday night. Mainly dry conditions are expected.

- Moderate confidence severe storms Friday afternoon and evening with large hail and damaging winds being the primary threats.

- Low to moderate confidence in daily thunderstorms through the weekend and into early next week.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 328 PM CDT Tue Sep 8 2026

A shortwave trough crossing the Dakotas has pushed a cold front southward across the area this afternoon. The front currently extends from eastern Nebraska into western Kansas. Mid-level warm air advection to the north of the front is shifting eastward and becoming focused across eastern Nebraska. Lingering widely scattered showers across the area should end as the WAA shifts out of the area. Conditions should be mostly dry then for the overnight hours tonight. Drier air continues to slowly mix southward across the area, with dew points now in the lower to mid 40s across northern Nebraska. This drier air will continue to work it's way southward tonight as surface high pressure builds into the area from the north. This will allow temperatures to drop into the 50s in many locations across the area by sunrise Wednesday morning.

A secondary cold front pushes across the area Wednesday morning as the high pressure center surges southeastward into western Nebraska by afternoon. This will bring a period of gusty north to northeast winds during the morning hours, with winds decreasing during the afternoon as the high becomes centered across the Sandhills.

The high remains nearly stationary across the area Wednesday night, allowing for a cool night. It will feel "fall like" as lows drop into the upper 40s to lower 50s by Thursday morning.

LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/

Issued at 328 PM CDT Tue Sep 8 2026

Active weather returns on Friday as a cold front approaches the area. Increased moisture ahead of the front will provide a favorable environment for thunderstorm development by Friday afternoon. Ample instability will exist across much of the region into Friday evening allowing for severe thunderstorms to develop. Initially, thunderstorms will be discrete in nature with a very large hail potential. As the evening progresses, thunderstorms will congeal into a line becoming more of a damaging wind threat. Current SPC outlooks for day 4 highlight this potential for severe thunderstorms across the area as well, which seems to be in good agreement with current thinking at this time.

Unsettled weather will continue through the middle of next week as a series of disturbances pivot across the region. While the severe risk remains uncertain beyond Friday night/Saturday morning, some stronger to briefly severe storms will be entirely possible with thunderstorms mainly confined to the late afternoon and early evening hours, weakening overnight as more stable air moves into the area after sunset. Will continue to monitor the severe potential heading into the weekend and into next week.

Temperatures will remain above normal in the low to mid 90s on Friday, however with the cold front passage on Friday evening, highs will drop significantly for the weekend and into next week. The cooler airmass, combined with continued clouds and precipitation will keep highs from rising out of the 70s through next Tuesday. Overnight lows will also drop drastically through early next week. Expect temperatures to range from the low 40s in the northwest to the low 50s into south central Nebraska.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 1251 PM CDT Tue Sep 8 2026

Scattered showers and TSTMS should gradually come to an end this afternoon. Otherwise VFR conditions will prevail through Wednesday morning. There is a possibility of some patchy low ceilings (MVFR) across north central Nebraska Wednesday morning but confidence is low on this.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.