343
FXUS63 KLBF 300534
AFDLBF

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service North Platte NE
1134 PM CST Thu Jan 29 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- High confidence in light snow impacting most of north central
Nebraska through Friday.

- Moderate to high confidence in wind chills dropping to near 20
below on Friday night/Saturday morning.

- Low to moderate confidence in minimal accumulating snow on
Saturday.

- A return to dry conditions begins on Sunday lasting through mid-
week with temperatures warming back up through the middle of next
week.

&&

.SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY/...
Issued at 330 PM CST Thu Jan 29 2026

An active weather pattern continues tonight as a series of systems
move across Nebraska. Light snow will be possible through Friday
leading to accumulating snow across much of the region.

After a brief respite from the snow this afternoon, a redevelopment
is expected by the evening. Snow will move into northern Nebraska
and impact locations mainly north of Highway 2 tonight. While this
last night and this morning`s snow was focused mainly across north
central Nebraska, the main focus of snow will shift slightly to the
west with the heaviest snow (around 1 inch) falling across central
Cherry county.

The next round of snow will fall on Friday as a stronger shortwave
pushes precipitation further to the south. Widespread light snow
will fall across much of the region as the main trough pushes the
main forcing to the south. Precipitation will start in the north and
push south throughout the day, dropping another half inch to 1 inch
across areas southwest of a Springview to Burwell line. Snow will
taper throughout the afternoon ending by the evening as surface high
pressure builds into the region.

By Friday night, an additional 1 to 2 inches (locally higher) of
snow is expected across the northern Nebraska, with lesser amounts
down to less than a half inch in southwest Nebraska. While wind
gusts remain under 20 mph throughout the majority of this light snow
event, snow ratios in the 15:1 to 20:1 range will create snow on the
fluffier side leading to some minor blowing snow across the region.
This will result in some minor visibility restrictions especially at
night, but overall impacts are expected to remain minimal.
Regardless, if traveling tonight through Friday be sure to allow for
extra travel time and be prepared for rapidly changing
conditions.

&&

.LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/...
Issued at 330 PM CST Thu Jan 29 2026

Strong upper level ridging and associated high pressure will build
back into the region on Saturday. Despite this high pressure, a
ribbon of moisture behind the high will produce some additional
light snow on Saturday. Confidence is increasing in this event, but
snow development will still highly depend of the placement of the
high pressure on Saturday and whether the moisture will be over
north central Nebraska. With this increasing confidence, have bumped
up PoPs into the likely category (~60 percent) and have included
about five hundredths of QPF for locations generally east of US-83.
Lower snow ratios near 10:1 will limit snow to under a half inch.
West of US-83, warmer temperatures rising into the upper 30s to low
40s could transition precipitation over to a rain/snow mix or all
rain. Precipitation will track steadily to the east throughout the
afternoon which may proceed the warmer air and any transition of
snow to rain. All precipitation exits the region to the east early
evening bringing an end to the precipitation potential for a few
days. Will continue to monitor this system over the next couple of
days as there is still fairly high uncertainty in the place of
precipitation as well as precipitation amounts.

In addition, colder air will accompany the high pressure resulting
in a return to below zero lows for portions of north central
Nebraska on Friday night and into Saturday morning. Current model
guidance suggests 850 mb temperatures -14 to -18 C range pushing
into the area with the high pressure on Friday night. This will
result in overnight lows dropping into the single digits for
locations generally east of US-83. With some modest winds on Friday
night, wind chill values will easily drop into the negative teens,
potentially approaching 20 below in portions of north central
Nebraska. While the latest probabilities show there is only a 10 to
15 percent chance of reaching apparent temperatures below negative
15 degrees and a virtually zero percent chance of getting colder
than 20 below, confidence continues to increase in these colder
apparent temperatures as model trends remain consistent on being
colder than guidance. Therefore, cold headlines are not in effect at
this time, it will need to be considered over the next few forecast
runs. Temperatures begin to moderate by Saturday night with lows
remaining above 10 degrees bringing the threat for very cold wind
chills to an end by Sunday morning.

Upper level ridging builds back into the region on Sunday bringing a
return to dry conditions from Sunday through the middle of next
week. There is just a slight chance of some light snow across
northern Nebraska on Tuesday, but confidence remains very low in
development and warrants not much more than a brief mention here.
After temperatures remain chilly on Saturday, they begin a gradual
warming trend through next week. Highs will generally warm back into
the upper 40s to low 50s through Wednesday.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SATURDAY/...
Issued at 1134 PM CST Thu Jan 29 2026

The main aviation concern will be MVFR to IFR ceilings across
western and north central Nebraska the next 18 hours. MVFR
ceilings near OVC015 will persist across portions of north
central Nebraska into southwest Nebraska through 18Z, with an
improvement to VFR all areas by 23Z. IFR ceilings are expected
across the northwest Sandhills tonight into Friday morning.
Periodic light snow will also occur overnight into Friday
morning, then lingering across the western Sandhills after 21Z.
Visibility will mostly remain P6SM, though brief reductions to
3SM are possible.

&&

.LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.

&&

$$

SHORT TERM...Kulik
LONG TERM...Kulik
AVIATION...Roberg

NWS LBF Office Area Forecast Discussion