


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS North Platte, NE
Issued by NWS North Platte, NE
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216 FXUS63 KLBF 012240 AFDLBF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service North Platte NE 540 PM CDT Tue Jul 1 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - A slight risk (level 2 of 5) of severe storms is expected across portions of the eastern Panhandle with a marginal risk (level 1 of 5) of severe storms for much of southwest Nebraska and the Sandhills this evening. - Drier conditions return for Wednesday into Thursday with scattered thunderstorm chances Thursday night. - The next significant precipitation arrives on Friday and Friday evening, although the severe potential is uncertain at this time. - Near daily rain and thunderstorms continue through the weekend. && .UPDATE... Issued at 540 PM CDT Tue Jul 1 2025 Updated the forecast to include severe watch # 482 which is valid until midnight CDT (11 PM MDT) for the eastern panhandle. western and northwestern Sandhills and a portion of north central Nebraska. Current radar observation, shows convection continues to struggle as it moves east off the higher terrain of far eastern Wyoming. Currently am more concerned about the supercell storm currently southwest of Rapid City. This storm is tracking to the south southeast and may impact the northeastern Nebraska Panhandle over the next 1 to 3 hours. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 400 PM CDT Tue Jul 1 2025 After a quiet Tuesday, active weather will return by late afternoon and into tonight as a shortwave trough tracks across the High Plains. Current observations show increasing moisture across western Nebraska along with a dryline across eastern Wyoming. As this trough and dryline progresses eastward through mid to late afternoon, it will encounter an environment of moderate instability (CAPE values near 2500 J/kg, steep low level lapse rates, and an area of shear greater than 30 knots). Convection is anticipated to start between 21Z and 22Z across the Panhandle before tracking east/southeastward into the evening hours. Greatest threats with these storms will be large hail (1.5 inch diameter or larger) initially in discrete supercells before storms become more linear in nature and damaging winds (65 mph or larger) become the main threat. Overall, these storms will be primarily diurnally driven and as instability wanes after sunset the severe potential will decrease. However, there is a potential that some lingering showers or embedded thunderstorms may continue through the night across portions of north central Nebraska. At this time, flash flooding concerns are limited as QPF totals remain between 0.5 and 0.75 inches. Showers exit into eastern Nebraska by sunrise Wednesday morning bringing some quieter weather to the region. Upper level ridging will begin to build back across the Rockies on Wednesday keeping dry conditions in place through Thursday. Some mild warm air advection into the region on both Wednesday and Thursday will result in a slight increase in temperatures with widespread low to mid 90s. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... Issued at 400 PM CDT Tue Jul 1 2025 Near daily isolated rain and thunderstorm chances will return on Thursday night lasting through the weekend. While confidence in severe risk low, the latest guidance suggest a greater probability of widespread convection on Friday and Friday night as a cold front gets dragged across the region. Significant instability and forcing across the region on Friday into Friday night will lead to stronger as well as severe storms. Large hail, frequent lightning, heavy rainfall, and strong wind gusts will be the main threats with the Friday storms. Also confidence in exact timing is low, but as with most summer storms, greatest timing of convection will likely be late afternoon and into the evening potentially impacting holiday celebrations. Stay tuned to later forecasts on the holiday storm potential as models get a better handle on the environment. Otherwise, afternoon and evening storms will continue through the weekend, however, the severe potential is low at this time. Also the passage of the cold front on Friday night and a push of cooler air behind the front Saturday and Saturday night will will result in temperatures dropping about 5 to 10 degrees across the region by Sunday. Highs will fall from the upper 80s to low 90s on Friday to the mid to upper 80s Sunday and Monday. Overnight lows will also drop over the weekend from the mid 60s to low 70s on Thursday night into the upper 50s to mid 60s by Saturday night. && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z THURSDAY/... Issued at 540 PM CDT Tue Jul 1 2025 There will be a risk for thunderstorms mainly this evening at both terminals with the greatest risk from 01z through 05z. Some wind gusts to 40+ KTS may accompany the storms, however, by the time the storms reach the terminals, they are expected to be diminishing in intensity. Regardless, there could be a period of moderate to brief heavy rain with the stronger storms, which may limit visibility to around 3 SM. Expect a clearing trend after 06z this evening with mainly clear skies expected overnight tonight through most of the day on Wednesday. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ UPDATE...Buttler SHORT TERM...Kulik LONG TERM...Kulik AVIATION...Buttler