260
FXUS63 KLBF 201140
AFDLBF

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service North Platte NE
540 AM CST Fri Feb 20 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Moderate to high confidence in colder temperatures early this
  morning resulting in wind chills into the negative teens.

- Low to moderate confidence in light snow late Friday afternoon
  through Saturday morning across southwest Nebraska.

- Moderate confidence in drier conditions for the weekend with
  temperatures rising into the 40s across southwest Nebraska.

&&

.SHORT TERM /THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/...
Issued at 306 AM CST Fri Feb 20 2026

Snow is slowly coming to an end across north central Nebraska. Some
lingering light snow could continue through the wee hours of the
morning before completely coming to an end as high pressure builds
southward into the region. This will bring a return to drier weather
for much of Friday. This high will also usher in much colder air
behind the departing system. Lows tonight will drop into the single
digits (even into the negative single digits across the Pine Ridge)
with wind chill values approaching 10 to 15 below zero. While not
close to headline criteria, this cold air combined with recent
snowfall will make for some bitter conditions this morning. Highs on
today will struggle to rise above freezing with most locations
seeing temperatures only in the upper 20s to low 30s.

The quiet weather will be brief for some locations as the next
precipitation system will arrive this afternoon into Saturday
morning as a shortwave trough moves off the Rockies into the High
Plains. The majority of the precipitation with this system will
remain south across Kansas, but southwest Nebraska (generally south
of I-80) will still get clipped on the northern edge. QPF amounts
will generally be under a tenth of an inch which will equate to
snowfall accumulations will be under an inch. Some locally higher
amounts into Chase and Hayes county could see amounts even up to 2
inches, but confidence is low in seeing widespread amounts this
high.

Snow will move off to the east by sunrise Saturday morning with
surface high pressure building back into the region through the
afternoon. Temperatures on Saturday will slowly moderate back into
the mid 30s to low 40s, but temperatures will be highly dependent on
how much clearing can develop behind the trough and how quickly the
high pressure will push back into the region. In addition, some
areas across southwest Nebraska may be influenced by recent
snowfall. Current forecast is calling for highs into the mid 40s
across extreme southwest Nebraska (Chase county). However, this area
is also expected to see the heaviest snowfall with the Friday night
system. Temperatures may be a few degrees too high in this case with
the snow acting to keep temperatures on the cooler side of guidance.
Will continue to monitor this over the next forecast cycle and
adjust as necessary.

&&

.LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/...
Issued at 306 AM CST Fri Feb 20 2026

A reinforcing shot of arctic air and back door cold front
Saturday night, will lead to colder temps Sunday. Highs will
range from the upper 20s in the northeast to the mid 30s in
southwestern Nebraska. Ridging will begin to build into the
intermountain west, then central Rockies Monday. A warm front
will transition across the forecast area Monday leading to much
warmer readings in western Nebraska. There are some timing
differences with this feature per the latest GFS and EC solns
tonight. Even with the timing differences, feel confident enough
to push highs into lower 50s for far western areas Monday.
Further east, highs will struggle to get out of the lower to
middle 30s across far eastern portions of the forecast area.
After warm and dry conditions for Tuesday and Wednesday, a
northern stream trough will drop southeast across the Dakotas
Wednesday night, forcing a cold front through the area. This
marks the next outside threat for precipitation Wednesday night
into Thursday. This threat shows up in the deterministic solns,
however the ensembles are much more "pessimistic" toward the
notion of widespread precipitation. The latest NBM soln seems to
have this in mind with only slight chance pops in the forecast
for Wednesday night into Thursday. Temperatures per the latest
NBM forecast Wednesday and Thursday are forecast in the 50s to
lower 60s which is 10 to 20 degrees above normal for the last
week of February.

&&

.AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY/...
Issued at 540 AM CST Fri Feb 20 2026

Skies will continue to clear across western and north central
Nebraska this morning. By this afternoon high level cloudiness
will begin to increase from the southwest. By evening expect
broken to overcast skies across southwestern Nebraska. Ceilings
will range from 4000 to 5000 FT AGL overnight. There is also a
slight threat for snow at the KLBF terminal mainly this
evening. Visbys may fall off to around 4SM at times between 00z
and 06z Saturday. At the KVTN terminal scattered to broken
ceilings ranging from 15000 to 20000 FT AGL are possible
tonight.

&&

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

&&

$$

SHORT TERM...Kulik
LONG TERM...Buttler
AVIATION...Buttler

NWS LBF Office Area Forecast Discussion