Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS North Platte, NE
Issued by NWS North Platte, NE
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252 FXUS63 KLBF 032022 AFDLBF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service North Platte NE 222 PM CST Tue Nov 3 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - The threat for light precipitation may linger into Wednesday over far northeastern portions of the forecast. There is an additional threat for light precipitation Wednesday night for most of the forecast area with the exception of the eastern Panhandle and far southwestern Nebraska. - Expect dry conditions beyond Wednesday night with seasonal temperatures forecast through Sunday. Above normal temperatures are possible Monday and Tuesday. && .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 222 PM CST Tue Nov 3 2026 H5 analysis this morning had a broad trough of low pressure which extended from western Ontario, south-southwest into northwestern Texas. Within this trough, closed low pressure was located central Kansas. Upstream of this trough, a decent shortwave was noted over western Wyoming and eastern Idaho. East of the trough, ridging extended from the Carolinas, north into the eastern Great Lakes. West of the trough, high amplitude ridging extended from western Idaho, northeast into southern portions of Saskatchewan and southern portions of Alberta. West of this ridge, closed low pressure was noted approximately 300 miles off the coast of northern California. At the surface, low pressure was just to the southeast of Falls City Nebraska. a cold front extended to the south of this feature into eastern Texas. A stationary front extended north- northeast of the low into central Iowa and the arrowhead of Minnesota. A broad area of showers extended from northeastern into south central Nebraska this afternoon. This activity was just to the east of the forecast area with some very light precipitation noted over Boyd, Holt, Wheeler and portions of Garfield County. skies were cloudy, generally along and east of highway 83 from Valentine to North Platte. Temperatures as of 2 PM CST ranged from 41 degrees at Ainsworth and Valentine to 60 degrees at Imperial and Ogallala. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... Issued at 222 PM CST Tue Nov 3 2026 Upper level low pressure will track from southwestern Iowa into southern Minnesota tonight. As this feature tracks north- northeast across western Iowa, weak mid level isentropic lift will continue through mid evening over the far northeastern forecast area. Skies will gradually clear overnight west of a line from Burwell to Atkinson. East of this line, cloudiness on the western periphery of the upper level low will continue to back into the northeastern forecast area from the east. With respect to lows tonight, with clearing skies over the western 2/3rds of the forecast area and light northwesterly winds developing overnight, felt the NBM forecast was too warm on its low forecast tonight. This especially holds true in the Platte River Valley where west northwesterly winds and low level dry air advection support a decent cold air drainage setup overnight. That being said, went with mid 20s in the valley. Elsewhere, upper 20s were forecast, with lower to middle 30s in the northeast where cloud cover is expected overnight. The upper level low will stall out over east central Minnesota Wednesday, thanks to a northwest/southeast oriented ridge, downstream of the low over the eastern half of Ontario Canada. An embedded shortwave on the western periphery of the low will track through eastern South Dakota into northeastern Nebraska Wednesday afternoon into Wednesday night. This will bring a secondary threat for light rain to northeastern portions of the forecast area. The inherited forecast had precipitation chances as far west as the western Sandhills to highway 61 and north of Interstate 80. The latest GFS, 12z HRRR, and RRFS keep their measurable precipitation generally east of highway 183. This is echoed by the latest NBM ensemble forecast which has a 20 to 30 % chance of 12 hr measurable pcpn east of highway 183 Wednesday night. Based on the model trends from this morning, will confine pops to locations generally east of highway 183. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... Issued at 222 PM CST Tue Nov 3 2026 The latest deterministic GFS and EC solns from this morning are indicating a mid level trough impacting the central CONUS Saturday. However, with not much in the way of moisture available this weekend, dry conditions are expected to continue across the area. In the wake of the trough Saturday, low amplitude ridging will develop and persist across the central CONUS through Tuesday. This will lead to a dry forecast and after Friday, max temperatures that are near normal (through Friday) to above normal (Saturday through Tuesday). Highs through Friday will be generally in the 50s with highs reaching into the 60s Saturday through Tuesday. Looking at the latest NBM, EC and GFS ensembles, there decent agreement in warm temperatures (highs in the 60s) continuing into the middle and end of next week. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 1111 AM CST Tue Nov 3 2026 For the KLBF terminal: Expect some limited clearing later this afternoon with scattered to broken ceilings ranging from 1500 to 3000 FT AGL. Skies will then become mostly clear by evening with a few to scattered clouds at 20000 FT AGL. For the KVTN terminal: Expect mainly cloudy skies this afternoon with broken to overcast ceilings ranging from 1000 to 1500 FT AGL. Ceilings will begin to rise overnight, up to 3000 FT AGL by midnight CST. Ceilings will then increase Wednesday morning to 20000 FT AGL. Northwesterly winds will remain gusty at both terminals this afternoon with gusts up to 30 to 35 KTS. Winds will quickly diminish this evening, becoming west-northwest mid evening at under 10 KTS. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SYNOPSIS...Buttler SHORT TERM...Buttler LONG TERM...Buttler AVIATION...Buttler