310 FXUS63 KLBF 050823 AFDLBFArea Forecast Discussion National Weather Service North Platte NE 323 AM CDT Sun Oct 5 2025
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Scattered showers and thunderstorms area again possible tonight into early Monday but no severe weather is expected.
- Much cooler temperatures settle into the area with highs falling to the 50s for all by Monday.
- Temperatures moderate for the latter half of the week with above normal highs expected each day Thursday through Sunday.
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.SHORT TERM /THROUGH MONDAY/... Issued at 323 AM CDT Sun Oct 5 2025
Early this morning, scattered showers with a few thunderstorms were continue to lift north and east across central Nebraska. This activity was being driven by strong WAA overrunning the southeastward advancing cool front. Expectation is as the front continues to progress south and east, clearing the local area by daybreak, that rain will come to an end and dry conditions resume for much of the daytime Sunday. Winds will by steady out of the west- northwest through the day and this will support CAA. The result will be a large range of temperatures for the local area with highs in the middle 50s near the Pine Ridge to middle 70s in our far south and east.
Tonight/Monday...as high pressure settles over the Northern Rockies, winds will veer to the east-northeast and this flow will support modest lift off the higher terrain to the west. Scattered showers and a few thunderstorms will form as a result during the overnight hours. Any activity associated with the now departed frontal boundary should remain well removed to the south and east. Precipitation should persist into the daytime on Monday and it`s the expansive cloud cover with rain that should keep temperatures well in check. Daytime highs will only reach the middle to upper 50s, or anywhere from 5 to 15F below normal for early October. Precipitation chances will be fairly widespread though ensemble/deterministic solutions paint vastly different ideas. Overall, the forecast leans on NBM/EPS solutions which appear to be the more bullish outputs available at this time. While QPF doesn`t appear to be overly significant, a few locations could see a couple tenths of an inch before activity departs later in the day Monday.
Monday night...high pressure will settle into western Nebraska Monday night into Tuesday. This will coincide with clearing skies and cooler temperatures off the surface. With light winds, will need to watch for the potential for frost. Statistical guidance is hinting at middle 30s for lows in our northwest and the current forecast has some in place but not to the expanse advertised by the MET/MAV/ECS solutions. NBM probabilities for < 36F lows favors the Sandhills where a 50-70% bullseye exists. Will need to watch this potential over the next few forecast cycles.
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.LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/... Issued at 323 AM CDT Sun Oct 5 2025
Longwave troughing over the Hudson Bay will begin to track east with low-amplitude ridging building over the Inter-Mountain West. Ridge axis appears set to arrive early Wednesday with positive height anomalies remaining in place through the remainder of the forecast period (Sunday). ECMWF Extreme Forecast Index shows minor positive anomalies for both MaxT and MinT where ensemble mean temperatures climb to the 70s and 50s for highs and lows respectively. The NBM also shows median values for daytime highs in the upper 90s with 75th and 90th outputs in the middle to upper 80s. Pattern recognition lends confidence to this thinking with +5C h85 temperature anomalies. All this to say that temperatures should moderate through the week and a return to above normal and potentially well-above normal values appears probable. This may result in some renewed fire weather concerns, especially as we get into the following weekend with ridge breakdown beginning with the next disturbance tracking out of the Pacific Northwest.
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.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/... Issued at 1239 AM CDT Sun Oct 5 2025
Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms will continue over the next couple hours across the portions of western and north central Nebraska, including impacting both KLBF and KVTN terminals. Winds will remain breezy the next couple hours out of the west to northwest around 10 to 15 kts gust up to 20 kts. Winds will briefly become lighter in the early morning hours around 5 to 10 kts out of the west to northwest. Winds increase by mid-morning out of the west northwest around 15 to 20 kts with gust up to 30 kts through the evening hours. MVFR conditions will be possible across the northern Sandhills in the afternoon as lower cigs move in. Cigs will return to VFR conditions by Sunday evening and the remainder of the forecast period.
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.LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None.
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SHORT TERM...NMJ LONG TERM...NMJ AVIATION...Gomez
NWS LBF Office Area Forecast Discussion