textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Light rain showers will continue overnight into this morning for most locations across the forecast area, lingering into this afternoon and evening for northeastern portions of the forecast area.

- Gusty northwesterly winds will continue overnight into this afternoon with gusts of 40 to 50 MPH possible.

- Near seasonal temperatures with mostly dry conditions are expected through the weekend. Temperatures may climb slightly above normal by late weekend into early next week.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 211 AM CST Tue Nov 3 2026

Today and Tonight...A closed upper low was currently located over south central KS with an open trough extending north into eastern ND. Strong northerly winds aloft extended from the Dakotas south across western NE into western KS. Gusty northwest winds will increase overnight to 20 to 35 mph with gusts to 45 mph. Scattered light rain showers overnight as the closed low lifts into central KS by 12Z. Light rain showers will end across the west this morning as the upper low lifts into northeast KS. Wrap around showers will remain across the east this afternoon as the upper low lifts into the mid Missouri Valley by early this evening. Northwest winds 25 to 35 mph with occasional gusts from 40 to 50 mph possible. Colder air drawn in behind the system with H85 temperatures only 4 to 5C. Afternoon highs 45 to 50, with low 50s far southwest. Tonight, a slight chance for light showers far northeast this evening, otherwise mainly clear skies across the west with cloudy skies persisting across the northeast. Northwest winds will decouple across the west at 5 to 15 mph, while breezy across the northeast. Lows coldest across the west from the upper 20s to lower 30s while far eastern areas range in the mid to upper 30s.

Wednesday and Wednesday night...The closed low will lift into MN and WI on Wednesday, with a chance for showers across the far northeast. A breezy northwest wind across north central NE. Highs from near 45 far northeast to 50 to 55 southwestern areas, where skies will remain mostly sunny. An upstream upper trough will move across CO into western KS, drawing the upper trough southward across central and eastern NE. This will bring a chance for light showers to much of north central into central NE overnight and cloudy skies overnight. Lows not as cold in the mid 30s.

LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/

Issued at 211 AM CST Tue Nov 3 2026

An upper level high is expected to track across the northern Plains, while the southern jet stream remains well south of the region. This pattern will bring us more towards seasonal high temperatures Thursday into the weekend, with mostly dry conditions expected. With the upper high remaining across the northern Plains, expecting that the upper level trough forecast for this weekend will continue to remain well north of the region. Latest guidance continues to show this trend, and with this northern trend, expecting little to no precipitation this weekend. Even latest ensemble guidance is now picking up on this northern trend, keeping a less than 10 percent chance for measureable precipitation this weekend. As for temperatures, expecting that highs will mostly remain in the 50s this week, with slightly warming highs to the upper 50s and possibly lower 60s by this weekend. This is around normal for this time of year, as typical highs for early November are around 55 to 58 degrees.

By early next week, slight upper level ridging is expected to build across the northern Plains. This may lead to subtle temperature increases, with the current forecast bringing highs into the low to mid 60s. This would push highs around 5 to 10 degrees above normal. However, will continue to keep an eye on the forecast trends this week, as guidance comes into better consensus resolving the upper level pattern after this weekend.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 1111 AM CST Tue Nov 3 2026

For the KLBF terminal: Expect some limited clearing later this afternoon with scattered to broken ceilings ranging from 1500 to 3000 FT AGL. Skies will then become mostly clear by evening with a few to scattered clouds at 20000 FT AGL. For the KVTN terminal: Expect mainly cloudy skies this afternoon with broken to overcast ceilings ranging from 1000 to 1500 FT AGL. Ceilings will begin to rise overnight, up to 3000 FT AGL by midnight CST. Ceilings will then increase Wednesday morning to 20000 FT AGL. Northwesterly winds will remain gusty at both terminals this afternoon with gusts up to 30 to 35 KTS. Winds will quickly diminish this evening, becoming west-northwest mid evening at under 10 KTS.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.