


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS North Platte, NE
Issued by NWS North Platte, NE
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458 FXUS63 KLBF 162047 AFDLBF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service North Platte NE 347 PM CDT Thu Oct 16 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Severe storms remain possible late Thursday afternoon/evening with isolated large hail and heavy rain the main concerns. - A frontal boundary arriving Saturday will bring cooler temperatures and the threat for widespread frost on Sunday morning. - Overall, temperatures are expected to remain mild with largely dry conditions for the majority of next week. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... Issued at 346 PM CDT Thu Oct 16 2025 Currently, expansive rain and thunderstorms were occurring east of Highway 83. This was largely driven by strong warm air advection with brief heavy rain being the main concerns in the stronger cores. To the west, a cool front has stalled around a OGA to VTN line with northwesterly flow to the west. This was working to hold temperatures back with middle 60s for most locations as a result. Late this afternoon and evening, the early afternoon convection will continue to shift east but weaken as it does so. This occurs as the belt of stronger flow off the surface begins to back and focus aims towards the frontal boundary to the west. As we get towards the evening, a reintensifying LLJ will lead to strong convergence along the stalled boundary to the west and should allow for a second round of rain and thunderstorms to develop. Afternoon observations show temperatures in the warm sector have been slow to climb, however, areas of southwest Nebraska where clear skies have been more prevalent have produced reasonably mixed boundary layers and stronger instability as a result. Still though, with MUCAPE values likely only reaching the 500-1000 j/kg range, expectations are for the threat for severe convection to be a short window and limited in scope. A few instances of 1" hail are the main concern but with the threat for training storms within an anomalously moist environment will have to monitor for heavy rain. HREF localized probability- matched mean QPF highlights a narrow corridor of 1.00"+ with isolated pockets of closer to 2.00". Believe this is fairly reasonable and leaned on this guidance for QPF. Individual CAMs suggest that round two gets underway around 21-23z (4-6pm CDT), focused across southwest Nebraska and eventually lifting north and east through the evening. Given storms likely outrunning the main plume of instability, believe intensity should quickly wane after 01z (8pm CDT) with general thunderstorms/moderate rainfall the main concern thereafter. Forcing wanes quickly as the LLJ veers and the shortwave trough quickly departs to the north and east. As a result, have most PoPs ending by Midnight CDT save for north central Nebraska which may have lingering light activity for a few hours in the early morning Friday. Lows tonight will vary considerably from west to east owing to lingering precip and clouds to the east where temperatures will hold around 50F. Further west, well behind the front, believe some middle to upper 30s are possible over the western Sandhills with lower 40s likely elsewhere. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... Issued at 346 PM CDT Thu Oct 16 2025 Departing shortwave from Thursday will lift into the Northern Plains and phase into larger scale troughing situated over southern Canada. The latter of these features will remain in place through the weekend with a few disturbances translating south and east on the backside of the low center. The first of these will arrive late Friday into early Saturday. This will result in a progressive cool front leading to cooling temperatures and Chances (up to 40%) for light rain across our northern zones. This is likely to occur primarily Saturday morning. Guidance is fairly pessimistic regarding QPF with generally 0.15" or less forecast for any location in the forecast area. Though cooler air will accompany this, thermal profiles still support an all-rain event. Blustery northwest winds with moderate CAA will promote gusty winds all day. In coordination with neighboring offices, opted to boost these slightly with gusts up to 35 mph possible. Later that night, cooling will allow temperatures to fall into the lower 30s with a few locations potentially reaching the upper 20s. Given fairly limited coverage of frost conditions thus far, will need to keep an eye on the need for Frost/Freeze headlines. NBM probabilities still highlight 70-90% probabilities for seeing < 32F so will continue to mention frost in the weather grids at this time. Temperatures warm quickly Sunday as southwesterly flow redevelops on the backside of a glancing high pressure. This may promote an influx of drier air along with breezy winds, a combination supporting at least an elevated concern for fire weather. Many deterministic solutions suggest the going forecast for afternoon humidity minimums have room to fall still so will need to pay close attention to this with subsequent forecasts. Next week, a few disturbances track out of the Pacific Northwest and encroach on the Central Plains. At this time, the most notable of these appears to be Monday into early Tuesday. Even though strong height falls spread south into northern Nebraska, precipitable water values roughly 75% of normal for mid-October will keep things on the dry side. NBM trends have decreased PoPs and EPS/GEFS support the dry forecast inherited from the model blend. Thereafter, strong height rises arrive as upstream ridging begins to amplify. This will keep things on the mild side and maintain dry weather through the end of the forecast period. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY/... Issued at 1252 PM CDT Thu Oct 16 2025 A line of thunderstorms currently located just east of LBF up through ANW will continue to slowly shift east through the afternoon. Impacts from this activity at either LBF/VTN are unlikely in the valid period. A second round of thunderstorms will develop later this afternoon across southwest Nebraska. This will likely bring impacts at LBF with impacts possible at VTN. Have included a TEMPO group at LBF to include the threat of IFR visibilities in heavy rain though this should remain brief in nature. Otherwise, outside of convection, expecting low-end VFR conditions to give way to clear skies by early Friday morning. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...NMJ LONG TERM...NMJ AVIATION...NMJ