textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Moderate confidence in wind chills near 15 to 19 below zero tonight and into Monday morning.

- Moderate to high confidence in dry conditions through the next weekend.

- High confidence in above normal, potentially record-breaking, high temperatures by late week and into the weekend.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/

Issued at 130 PM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026

Snow has basically come to an end across the region with only some light lingering snow continuing through early afternoon. Little to no additional snowfall is expected. Gusty winds will continue through the afternoon before gradually diminishing through the overnight hours. While winds will diminish to below high wind criteria, gusts up to 25 mph could be possible through the overnight hours especially east of US-83. This will create continued areas of blowing and drifting snow well into the overnight hours. Those traveling across north central Nebraska this evening or overnight should allow for extra time due to rapidly changing conditions. Behind the departing system, much colder air will push into the region. Lows tonight will drop into the single digits across northern Nebraska with wind chill values approaching 15 to 18 below zero. While not quite headline criteria, this cold air combined with recent snowfall will make for some bitter conditions tonight and into Monday morning.

LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/

Issued at 130 PM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026

High pressure will build back into the region early next week bringing with it a return to dry and warmer conditions. Temperatures will gradually warm back up through mid-week, with highs returning back into the mid to upper 80s by Thursday and Friday. Latest EFI remains high (0.8 to 0.9) with marginal SoT (between 0 and 1) increasing confidence that more extreme, potentially record- breaking, maximum temperatures may occur on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, EFI and SoT values increase even higher with EFI values over 0.9 and SoT approaching 1. Current forecasted highs are much too low as confidence remains high that maximum temperatures will reach at least 90 by Saturday, potentially even into the mid 90s. Latest probabilities support these higher than forecasted highs as the potential to see over 90 degrees on Saturday is near 50 to 60 percent. Expect highs through the end of next week and into the weekend to continue to trend upwards over the next several days.

There is a low end chance of some isolated precipitation on Monday night and into Tuesday as a weak frontal system pushes across the northern Plains. At this time, confidence is low in development and any precipitation that does develop is expected to be light with little in the way of QPF. Therefore, confidence is high in continuing to advertise a generally dry forecast through next weekend.

The continued dry conditions and increasing temperatures through next week will result in a return to fire concerns. West northwest winds will gust up to 35 mph on Tuesday and combined with afternoon RH values near 20 percent. Winds lessen slightly on Wednesday, but minimum RH drops to near 15 percent across portions of southwest Nebraska. Will need to keep an eye on this over the next forecast cycle as fire weather headlines may be necessary.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY/

Issued at 620 PM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026

Gusty northerly winds are expected through midnight across western and north central Nebraska, with gusts diminishing overnight. Winds become north to northwest overnight and into the morning, remaining fairly consistent in direction and generally under 10 knots through the rest of the TAF period. Localized MVFR conditions are expected across north central Nebraska through midnight, as a lower cloud base continues to erode. After midnight, expecting VFR conditions across all of western and north central Nebraska through the rest of the TAF period.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

High Wind Warning until 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/ this evening for NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094. Winter Weather Advisory until 7 PM CDT this evening for NEZ006- 008-009-026>029. Blizzard Warning until 7 PM CDT this evening for NEZ007-010.