Expires:No;;882039 FXUS63 KLBF 061116 AFDLBF Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service North Platte NE 516 AM CST Tue Jan 6 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Mild temperatures, dry conditions, and breezy west winds persist today and Wednesday. This will lead to elevated fire concerns, especially for areas near and west of Highway 83. - A storm system crosses the area Thursday into Friday, bringing a return of cooler temperatures and a threat for light wintry precipitation. - A return of dry and mild conditions is expected by late weekend and into early next week. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... Issued at 335 AM CST Tue Jan 6 2026 Temperatures this morning range from the upper 20s in northwest Nebraska to the low 40s in portions of central and southwest Nebraska. Winds are from the northwest at 5 to 15 miles per hour. For today, expect yet another mild afternoon, with the persistent westerly warm advection regime continuing across the area. Temperatures aloft are not quite as warm as in previous days, and this will keep highs slightly cooler despite ample diurnal mixing again today. Highs today climb into the 50s to near 60 degrees, with the warmest temperatures south of I-80. Despite the slightly cooler temperatures, drier air filtering into the area will push humidity values into the upper teens to 20s this afternoon, and increase fire concerns. Elevated to near critical fire concerns are expected today, mainly across portions of southwest and western Nebraska. A boost in temperatures aloft pushes H85 temperatures back above the 90th percentile climo for tomorrow across the area. This translates to highs again in the upper 50s to 60s tomorrow afternoon. Humidity again drops in the upper teens to low 20s, and this overlaps increasing westerly winds across the Sandhills. Yet again, elevated fire concerns can be expected for portions of western Nebraska. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... Issued at 335 AM CST Tue Jan 6 2026 By Wednesday night, an upper shortwave will quickly eject east from near the Baja Peninsula, reaching southeastern Nebraska by Thursday afternoon. As this occurs, a deformation axis is expected to form across across portions of northern and central Kansas. As the associated surface low quickly lifts northeast across Kansas and into Missouri, the area could receive a glancing blow of this deformation axis precipitation. Light rain or snow is possible for areas across portions of southwest into central Nebraska prior to this low quickly exiting by late Thursday evening. Total QPF look to remain light (~0.10" or less) and this points towards limited impacts locally. A second upper low then begins to eject out of the Four Corners Friday morning, crossing Kansas by Friday evening. This could lead to a second glancing blow of light precipitation, though confidence in this remains low for now. regardless, this looks to be of little impact, though trends will continue to be monitored. Upper ridging then establishes across the Intermountain West as we head into late weekend and early next week. This briefly establishes northwest flow aloft and brings a return of dry conditions to the area. Westerly low level flow establishes by Sunday, pointing towards a quick return of mild temperatures back to the area. These dry and mild conditions could spell the return of fire concerns, and trends will need to be monitored into early next week. && .AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 520 AM CST Tue Jan 6 2026 VFR conditions are expected to prevail through tomorrow morning across western and north central Nebraska. Winds increase from the west this afternoon, with gusts of 20 to 30kts expected for terminals near and west of HWY 83. Winds then remain westerly tonight, at 10 to 15kts. Westerly LLWS will also develop for terminals north of I-80 overnight, persisting into tomorrow morning. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...Brown LONG TERM...Brown AVIATION...Brown