textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Precipitation chances return Wednesday night through Friday night (mainly 20-40%).

- Best precipitation chances Saturday afternoon into Saturday night (30-60%) with additional chances Sunday through Tuesday.

- Near to slightly above normal highs through Friday, then much warmer temperatures Saturday and Sunday with highs in the 70s to low 80s.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH THURSDAY/

Issued at 150 PM CDT Tue Apr 7 2026

A northern stream trough will move into the Northern Plains tonight, and drive a cold front into north central Nebraska after midnight. Southerly winds will become southwest in advance of the cold front and lead to milder temperatures across the forecast area tonight from 35 to 40. The cold front will quickly move through the forecast area Wednesday morning, with a gusty northerly wind 15 to 25 mph. Wind diminish to 5 to 15 mph by late afternoon. Highs in the low to mid 60s. There will be elevated fire weather concerns, as humidity falls to 20 to 25 percent during the afternoon. The gusty winds diminish by mid to late afternoon, during the time of lowest humidity.

The front will stall out across northern Kansas Wednesday night. A mid level disturbance will bring a chance for light showers across the Sandhills after midnight.

LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/

Issued at 150 PM CDT Tue Apr 7 2026

Zonal flow aloft Thursday through Friday, as a frontal boundary remains stalled out across central and northern Kansas. This will bring a 20 to 40 percent chance for showers, with the higher POPs across the south. A warmup to 70 and low 70s southwestern areas Thursday, then cooler in the upper 50s to around 60 on Friday with easterly winds.

A shortwave trough will move into the Southwestern U.S. Friday night and Saturday. This will bring southwesterly flow aloft to the region as surface low pressure deepens across Wyoming and Montana. This will bring increasing POPs from 30 to 60 percent by Saturday afternoon and evening, along with gusty south winds 20 to 30 mph, and highs warming into the 70s. Thunderstorms will also be possible Saturday afternoon and evening, mainly across southwest and central Nebraska.

Unsettled weather will persist Sunday through Tuesday. A longwave trough will move into the Southwestern U.S. on Sunday, reaching the Central Rockies and Four Corners Monday, and the Central Plains region Monday night into Tuesday. This will bring POPs from 30 to 50 percent. Although timing is uncertain, the latest forecast brings much colder air in behind a strong cold front Monday night, with much cooler highs in the low 40s to low 50s Tuesday. Depending how the upper trough becomes oriented, and if a closed low develops, some light snow accumulations are possible Monday night into Tuesday. Confidence is low on this being impactful, but will continue to monitor model trends closely in the coming days.

Highs will be warmest on Sunday in the upper 70s to near 80, then upper 60s to low 70s Monday as the cold front begins to move in. Highs Tuesday have trended colder, now in the low 40s to low 50s.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z THURSDAY/

Issued at 1234 AM CDT Wed Apr 8 2026

There will be a brief period of LLWS this morning before sunrise across both KVTN and KLBF terminals with winds out of the southwest around 35 to 40 kts. VFR conditions will prevail through the forecast period across western and north central Nebraska. Sfc winds will shift to the northwest this morning around 10 to 15 kts sustained with gusts up to 25 kts. Winds will diminish this evening with northerly winds of 5 kts or less across the northern Sandhills and light and variable winds across western and southwest Nebraska.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.