textproduct: North Platte

KEY MESSAGES

- Snow will quickly exit north central Nebraska this evening, with dry conditions then expected into early next week.

- Another round of light snow is possible Tuesday morning across north central Nebraska, though little to no accumulation is expected at this time.

- Mild temperatures (40s to 50s) are expected for much of the upcoming week, with near record highs (middle to upper 60s) possible Thursday.

SHORT TERM /THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/

Issued at 320 PM CST Sat Jan 31 2026

Currently, light to moderate snow continues to move quickly east across portions of north central Nebraska, leading to light accumulations of up to 1". Precipitation has largely ended for areas west of HWY 183, and these dry conditions are expected to continue into tonight and tomorrow. Temperatures range from the upper teens in north central Nebraska to the low 50s west of HWY 61. These warmer temperatures are found behind a frontal boundary pushing into the western Sandhills.

For areas east of HWY 183, snow will persist for a few more hours and lead to light accumulations of around 1". With gusty south winds, some visibility concerns will continue as blowing snow can be expected as snow falls. Impacts from the snow has been minimal further west, as clearing skies and warming temperatures has rapidly melted any snow that fell earlier this morning and afternoon. Continued warm advection overnight boosts lows 10-20 degrees above those observed this morning, into the upper teens to 20s.

Upper ridging then amplifies across the western CONUS as we head into Sunday, with northwest flow establishing aloft. This points to a return of drier conditions tomorrow, along with quickly moderating highs as westerly low-level flow strengthens. The boost in warm advection pushes highs into the upper 40s to 50s for areas west of HWY 183. Highs only climb into the upper 30s further east.

LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/

Issued at 320 PM CST Sat Jan 31 2026

Upper ridging remains the dominant feature as we head into early next week, as it remains in place across the western US. This will lead to temperatures above average each day, along with continued dry conditions. The lone exception to this could be on Tuesday morning, as a weak shortwave traverses the apex of the ridge and into the Dakotas. Guidance hints at a round of light snow in association with this, primarily across portions of north central Nebraska. Confidence in this remains low for now, with probabilities of >0.1" of snow only peaking around 20-30% along the HWY 20 corridor. Increasing this threshold to >0.5", and probabilities remain 10% or less for areas near the HWY 281 corridor. Trends will continue to be monitored, though impacts look to remain limited at best at this time.

Attention then turns to an increasing threat for fire weather by late week. The day of greatest concern looks to be Thursday, as this will be the warmest of the forecast period. A growing number of ensemble members suggest anomalously warm highs for Thursday, with even the 50th percentile NBM painting records (upper 60s) for much of western and southwest Nebraska. The current forecast sits near the 25th percentile of the guidance envelope, and will almost certainly need to be adjusted upwards as confidence grows. The combination of these near record temperatures, dry conditions, and breezy northwest winds could lead to near- critical fire concerns for much of the area. The dry and mild conditions then look to persist into next weekend, albeit not quite as warm as Thursday.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z MONDAY/

Issued at 533 PM CST Sat Jan 31 2026

VFR is expected to prevail through tomorrow afternoon across all of western and north central Nebraska. Isolated rain or snow showers will linger through 02Z, and could briefly affect the KLBF terminal. Northwesterly LLWS is also expected from 07Z tonight until 15Z Sunday across portions of north central Nebraska including the KVTN terminal.

Light westerly winds below 10kts tonight will become northwest by 17Z Sunday, with gusts to 20 kts at KVTN, diminishing to below 10kts by 22z.

LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.