458
FXUS63 KLBF 152028
AFDLBF
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service North Platte NE
328 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026
.KEY MESSAGES...
- After mainly dry conditions tonight and Wednesday,
precipitation chances will increase Wednesday night into
Thursday night with a good chance for wetting rains across
western and north central portions of the forecast area. Heavy
rain is possible over northern Nebraska Thursday night into
Friday morning.
- High temperatures will be warmest Thursday and Friday with
readings in the 80s. Otherwise, high temperatures will be
generally in the 70s.
&&
.SYNOPSIS...
Issued at 328 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026
H5 pattern this morning has a broad area of high pressure over
the southeastern CONUS. North of this high, an upper level low
was present over northwestern Ontario and northeastern Manitoba.
Further west, a decent shortwave trough was just off the coast
of the Olympic Peninsula. West of this feature, high pressure
was located over the Gulf of Alaska with ridging extending north
into Alaska. In addition to the shortwave over the pacific NW,
a second trough was present just off the coast of central
California. Across the central plains today, broad west
northwest flow extended from Nebraska to central and southern
California. At the surface this afternoon, weak high pressure
was located over northeastern Nebraska. A stationary front
extended from the Texas Panhandle, east northeast into east
central Kansas and northeastern Missouri. North of the front,
skies were mostly cloudy south of a line from Ogallala to
Burwell. North of this line, skies were clear to partly cloudy.
Temperatures as of 2 PM CDT ranged from 62 degrees at North
Platte, to 69 degrees at Valentine.
&&
.SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/...
Issued at 328 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026
A frontal boundary will remain anchored across southern and
eastern Kansas overnight. With the forecast area being well
north of this feature, and under the influence of weak high
pressure, precipitation chances will be limited to far
southeastern portions of the forecast area overnight. The threat
for precipitation will linger into the morning hours over far
eastern portions of the forecast area as some weak mid level
warm air advection rides north from central into northeastern
Nebraska Wednesday morning. Am expecting cloud cover to be
fairly persistent overnight, particularly from southwestern
Nebraska into the eastern Sandhills. This will lead to warmer
min temps tonight across SW Nebraska into the eastern Sandhills
where middle 50s are forecast. Further north and northwest,
limited clearing tonight will lead to cooler lows around 50
degrees. On Wednesday, the upper level shortwave currently over
the Olympic peninsula will merge with the California disturbance
over northern California. By Wednesday afternoon, the H5
pattern will transition to more southwesterly and south-
southwesterly aloft over the high plains. With a surface trough
deepening along the front ranges of Colorado and SE Wyoming, the
frontal boundary, anchored over Kansas, will begin to lift
north as a warm front. How far north this feature lifts beyond
Wednesday night will be key to precipitation chances along with
the threat for heavy rain Thursday into Thursday night (more
about that in the long term section below). In the interim,
there will be threat for showers and thunderstorms overnight
Wednesday night from SW into central Nebraska. This area is
north of the approaching warm front and on the nose of a decent
S to N oriented low level jet which extends from western Kansas
into far southwestern Nebraska.
&&
.LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/...
Issued at 328 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026
The warm front will lift north on Thursday. How far this
feature lifts north is still up in the air with this morning`s
deterministic models. The NAM this morning is least aggressive
pushing this feature north into far southern Nebraska by
Thursday afternoon. The GFS soln has this feature well into the
northern Sandhills and the EC soln from last night has this
feature over the central Sandhills. That being said, this
frontal boundary will have a huge impact on highs Thursday and
precipitation chances Thursday afternoon/night across the area.
This difference is reflected in the latest high temp guidance
for LBF Thursday. The MAV, MET and EC guidance has a high
temperature for LBF Thursday of 92, 73 and 85 degrees
respectively. The latest NBM has a high of 83 for LBF which is
right in between the warmer MAV and coolest MET guidance. The
NBM ensemble has a 11 degree spread in highs for LBF Thursday
with the 25th and 75th%le ranging from 78 to 89 degrees. This is
a 2 degree increase from the spread of 9 degrees (81-90) in
last night`s forecast. For now feel the 83 degree mark is
probably the best course of action given the increasing spread
in ensemble highs for Thursday. Another forecast aspect that
hinges on frontal location is precipitation chances Thursday
afternoon into Thursday night. All three deterministic solns
develop heavy rain on north of the frontal boundary. The
location of greatest QPF and best precipitation chances, ranges
from the central and northern Sandhills (NAM soln), to far
northern Nebraska and South Dakota EC and GFS solns. Looking at
the latest QPF forecast and NBM pop forecast, the northern solns
are favored here with likely to low end categorical pops
Thursday night into Friday morning. With respect to heavy rain
potential Thursday night, the latest EC EFI and SOT forecast is
indicating an EFI of .8-.9 and a SOT of 1-2 over southern South
Dakota and far northern Nebraska Thursday night. Forecast PWATS
in the NAM and GFS solns reach 1.7"+ and 1.5"+ Thursday
afternoon which is well above the 99% ile for September 17th.
That being said, will probably mention a threat for heavy rain
over northern Nebraska Thursday night into Friday morning in the
HWO. Upper level low pressure will slowly track east from Idaho
to eastern Wyoming and eastern Montana Friday into Sunday.
Persistent southwesterly flow aloft will lead to a continued
threat for showers and thunderstorms across the area. ATTM the
best chances for widespread precipitation appear to be Saturday
night. Beyond Sunday, there will be a continued threat for
showers and thunderstorms across the area, however, coverage
will be spotty at best.
&&
.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/...
Issued at 1216 PM CDT Tue Sep 15 2026
For the KLBF terminal: Expect mostly cloudy skies over the next
24 hours. Cloud decks will remain broken at 9000 to 12000 FT AGL
through the early overnight hours. Ceilings will fall to around
2500 FT AGL after 10z Wednesday. Ceilings will fall further to
MVFR levels after 13z Wednesday. There is a small threat for IFR
CIGS below 1000 FT AGL Wednesday morning. Given current forecast
confidence, will forgo mention of IFR cigs and keep them at MVFR
levels Wednesday morning. For the KVTN terminal: Expect
scattered clouds of 10000 FT AGL this afternoon, lifting to
20000 to 25000 FT AGL this evening. Skies will cloud over during
the overnight hours with ceilings falling to around 6000 FT AGL
by daybreak Wednesday. By mid morning Wednesday, ceilings will
approach 2000 FT AGL.
&&
.LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.
&&
$$
SYNOPSIS...Buttler
SHORT TERM...Buttler
LONG TERM...Buttler
AVIATION...Buttler
NWS LBF Office Area Forecast Discussion