textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Dangerously cold wind chills are expected across the region tonight through Friday morning. Wind chills of 20 below or colder are expected across the region, with wind chills of 30 below or colder across north central Nebraska.

- Accumulating snowfall is expected late tonight through Friday night. Accumulations of 2 to 4 inches are possible across the northwest into the central Sandhills, where a Winter Weather Advisory is in effect.

- Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning remain bitterly cold. Wind chills of 10 to 20 below zero are possible each morning.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 331 PM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

A strong arctic cold front will drop south through the region tonight as strong surface high pressure near 1052MB moves into western North Dakota. This will bring bitterly cold temperatures, with lows from 10 to 15 below across the northeast to near zero far southwest. A northeast wind 10 to 15 mph will create dangerous wind chills from 15 to 30 below zero or colder late tonight into Friday morning. An Extreme Cold Warning remains in effect for much of the eastern half of north central Nebraska, where 30 below zero wind chills or colder is expected. A Cold Weather Advisory remains in effect for the remainder of the area, where wind chill values of 20 to around 25 below are possible.

Meanwhile, light snow is expected to develop after 06Z tonight across the northwest Sandhills. This will occur along the western side of the strong surface high pressure ridge axis, aided by a coupled upper jet at H300. A Northern Stream jet max will extend from southeast MT across South Dakota while a Southern Stream jet max extends from AZ through southern CO.

Accumulating snow will continue Friday into Friday night, especially west of Ainsworth through Bartlett. The latest models including the ECMWF, GEM, and GFS forecast a 50 mile wide band of heavier snowfall from Chadron through Broken Bow. The current snowfall forecast has increased amounts to 2 to 3 inches and locally 4 inches. Due to the arctic airmass, SLR ratios may range up to 30:1, and snowfall amounts could be slightly higher. A cross section along this line shows deep saturation and temperatures from -18C to -20C with frontogenesis fairly persistent from 12Z Friday through 00Z Saturday. Isentropic upglide is also present Friday into Friday evening. Lighter snowfall amounts to around an inch north of this band and also to the south into southwest Nebraska. A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued across portions of the northwest and central Sandhills. This includes Sheridan, western Cherry, Grant, Hooker, Thomas, Blaine, Loup, McPherson, Logan, and Custer County. Light snow will end across the southeastern zones Saturday morning as the system drops into Kansas and Missouri.

Highs Friday will be bitterly cold, from a few degrees below zero northeast to single digits southwest. Lows Friday night 5 below to near 10 below. Winds become calm to light and variable, so wind chills 10 to 15 below. Not expecting a cold weather advisory for Friday night into Saturday morning at this time, but will closely monitor.

Saturday will remain very cold, though not a cold with highs 5 to 10 above east, to 10 to 15 above western Sandhills.

Another reinforcing shot of arctic air will drop through South Dakota Saturday night with partial clearing of skies. Lows still quite cold at around 5 below and wind chills as low as 15 below.

LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/

Issued at 331 PM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

Reinforcing arctic air will move in Sunday with highs near 10 above north central to the teens southwest. The colder ECMWF suggests highs could be about 5 degrees colder.

A return of warmer temperatures Monday and Tuesday into the upper 20s northeast and lower 40s southwest. Slightly colder Wednesday and Thursday as a large upper trough drops through the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 1133 PM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

Cigs will continue to lower overnight with MVFR conditions expected Friday morning through Friday night. Light snow will begin to move in Friday morning and become more widespread by early afternoon, with some locations briefly seeing IFR conditions as visibilities lower, especially across portions of the northwest Sandhills down to central Nebraska. Winds will shift from the northeast tonight to the southeast by early Friday afternoon with winds around 5 to 10 kts.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Cold Weather Advisory until noon CST /11 AM MST/ Friday for NEZ004-022>026-035>038-056>059-069>071-094. Winter Weather Advisory from 6 AM CST /5 AM MST/ Friday to 6 AM CST /5 AM MST/ Saturday for NEZ004-023>027-036>038-094. Extreme Cold Warning until noon CST Friday for NEZ005>010- 027>029.