194  
FXUS63 KLBF 172055  
AFDLBF  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE  
255 PM CST TUE DEC 17 2024  
   
KEY MESSAGES
 
 
- AFTER TODAY, DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS.  
 
- A CLIPPER SYSTEM WILL SPREAD STRONG WINDS TO THE AREA THURSDAY.  
 
- HIGH FORECAST CONFIDENCE CONTINUES TOWARD WARMER THAN NORMAL  
TEMPERATURES OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS.  
 

 
   
SYNOPSIS
 
 
ISSUED AT 255 PM CST TUE DEC 17 2024  
 
H5 ANALYSIS THIS MORNING HAD A LOW AMPLITUDE PATTERN ACROSS THE  
CONUS. A SHORTWAVE TROUGH EXTENDED FROM FAR EASTERN MONTANA  
INTO SOUTHEASTERN WYOMING. UPSTREAM OF THIS FEATURE, LOW  
AMPLITUDE RIDGING EXTENDED ALONG THE PACIFIC NW COAST OF THE  
CONUS. EAST OF THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH, ZONAL FLOW EXTENDED EAST  
INTO THE WESTERN GREAT LAKES WHERE A TROUGH WAS PRESENT FROM  
EASTERN ONTARIO INTO NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE LP OF MICHIGAN.  
LIGHT SNOW CONTINUED OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL  
SOUTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON. ACROSS WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL  
NEBRASKA, A COLD FRONT EXTENDED ACROSS THE HEART OF THE  
SANDHILLS. TEMPERATURES WERE SUB FREEZING OVER FAR NORTHERN  
NEBRASKA WITH READINGS IN THE UPPER 20S TO AROUND 30. SOUTH OF  
THE FRONT, READINGS WERE GENERALLY IN THE 40S WITH THE WARMEST  
READINGS OVER FAR SOUTHWESTERN NEBRASKA.  
 

 
   
SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/
 
 
ISSUED AT 255 PM CST TUE DEC 17 2024  
 
THE MID WAVE SHORTWAVE, WHICH BROUGHT SNOW TO SOUTH DAKOTA  
TODAY, WILL SLIDE SOUTHEAST INTO MINNESOTA AND IOWA TONIGHT. A  
SECONDARY DISTURBANCE WILL RIDE SOUTH FROM THE CHEYENNE RIDGE TO  
THE PALMER DIVIDE THIS EVENING, KEEPING THE THREAT FOR LIGHT  
SNOW, WELL OFF TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE FORECAST AREA. HIGH  
PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO WESTERN NEBRASKA THIS EVENING, THEN  
CENTRAL KANSAS OVERNIGHT. WINDS WILL SHIFT OVER TO LIGHT WEST  
TOWARD 12Z WEDNESDAY. WITH DRY BOUNDARY LAYER CONDITIONS, CLEAR  
TO PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND THE LIGHT WESTERLY WINDS, WENT A TAD  
COOLER ON LOWS IN THE PLATTE RIVER VALLEY AS THIS APPEARS TO BE  
A COLD DRAINAGE SETUP. ON WEDNESDAY, A SECOND, MID LEVEL  
SHORTWAVE WILL TRACK ACROSS SOUTHWESTERN CANADA, LEADING TO  
SURFACE CYCLOGENESIS OVER SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND SOUTHWESTERN  
SASKATCHEWAN. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE WEST WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON  
AT H850, HOWEVER, NEAR SURFACE WINDS WILL RETAIN A SOUTHERLY AND  
SOUTH- SOUTHWESTERLY COMPONENT WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. THIS WILL  
LIMIT MIXING AND BELIEVE THIS, ALONG WITH INCREASING MID LEVEL  
CLOUDINESS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON FROM THE NORTHWEST MAY LIMIT  
HIGHS MAINLY TO THE 40S. HIGHS WILL BE IN THE MIDDLE 30S IN THE  
FAR NORTHEASTERN FORECAST AREA WHERE THE LIGHTEST WINDS RESIDE.  
THAT BEING SAID, HIGHS WEDNESDAY WERE TRENDED DOWN FROM THE  
INHERITED FORECAST AND BROUGHT MORE IN LINE WITH THE STATISTICAL  
GUIDANCE. ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT, THE SURFACE LOW WILL TRACK FROM  
NW NORTH DAKOTA INTO SE NORTH DAKOTA. WEST-NORTHWESTERLY WINDS  
WILL INCREASE OVERNIGHT, LEADING TO MILD READINGS ACROSS THE  
FORECAST AREA. WEDNESDAY EVENING WILL START OUT WITH LIGHTER  
WINDS AND WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF LOW TEMPERATURES WERE HIT IN  
THE MID TO LATE EVENING HOURS WITH STEADY TO RISING TEMPS  
OVERNIGHT.  
 

 
   
LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/
 
 
ISSUED AT 255 PM CST TUE DEC 17 2024  
 
THE SURFACE LOW WILL TRACK FROM SE NORTH DAKOTA INTO SOUTHERN  
MINNESOTA ON THURSDAY. THIS WILL FORCE AN ARCTIC COLD FRONT INTO  
NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN NEBRASKA BY AFTERNOON, WITH THE  
FRONT STALLING OVER SOUTHWESTERN NEBRASKA INTO THE PANHANDLE BY  
THURSDAY EVENING. THE FRONT ENTERS FAR NORTHEASTERN NEBRASKA  
LATE MORNING AND WITH GOOD MIXING AHEAD OF THE FRONT, HIGHS MAY  
ACTUALLY REACH THE LOWER 40S IN THE O'NEILL AREA THURSDAY  
MORNING, BEFORE CRATERING THURSDAY AFTERNOON. WITH THE FRONTAL  
TIMING IN SW NEBRASKA HOLDING OFF UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON, HIGHS  
SHOULD REACH INTO THE LOWER 50S. WITH RESPECT TO WINDS THURSDAY.  
THE LATEST NAM12 AND GFS BUFKIT SOUNDINGS INDICATE GUST  
POTENTIAL TO AROUND 50 MPH ALONG A CORRIDOR FROM VALENTINE TO  
BROKEN BOW AND LOCATIONS NORTHEAST. THIS IS WHERE THE STRONGEST  
COLD AIR ADVECTION AND PRESSURE RISES EXIST THURSDAY. THE NBM  
INITIALIZED WITH WIND GUSTS IN THE 40 TO 45 MPH RANGE. THESE  
GUSTS WERE INCREASED RESULTING IN GUSTS OF 45 TO 50 MPH WHICH  
BETTER RESEMBLED WHAT WAS SEEN IN THE NAM12 AND GFS BUFKIT  
SOUNDING FORECASTS. ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO THE  
AREA THURSDAY NIGHT RESULTING IN THE COLDEST LOWS OF THE  
FORECAST PERIOD. READINGS WILL RANGE FROM THE SINGLE DIGITS IN  
THE NORTHEAST TO THE MIDDLE TEENS IN THE FAR SOUTHWEST. WINDS  
WILL SHIFT AROUND TO THE SOUTH ON FRIDAY WITH ARCTIC AIR SLOW TO  
EXIT TO THE EAST. HIGHS WILL RANGE FROM THE UPPER 20S IN THE  
NORTHEAST TO NEAR 50 IN FAR SW NEBRASKA. TEMPERATURES WILL  
SLOWLY CLIMB SATURDAY AND SUNDAY IN THE NORTHEASTERN FORECAST  
AREA WITH READINGS MAINLY IN THE 30S. FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE  
FORECAST AREA, HIGHS WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE 40S TO LOWER 50S.  
WIDESPREAD 50S WILL ARRIVE MONDAY AND TUESDAY. A POSSIBLE RIDGE  
BREAKDOWN MIDWEEK NEXT WEEK MAY PUSH HIGHS INTO THE LOWER 60S  
OVER SOUTHWESTERN NEBRASKA FOR CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS DAY.  
 

 
   
AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/
 
 
ISSUED AT 1125 AM CST TUE DEC 17 2024  
 
A COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO SLOWLY MOVE SOUTH ACROSS NEBRASKA. THE  
BOUNDARY IS ALREADY THROUGH KVTN WHERE WINDS ARE NORTHEAST AND  
WILL GRADUALLY BACK AROUND THROUGH NORTH TO NORTHWEST BY THIS  
EVENING, THOUGH EXPECT WIND SPEEDS WILL REMAIN AT OR BELOW  
15KTS BEFORE BECOMING LIGHT OVERNIGHT. EXPECT THE BOUNDARY WILL  
REACH KLBF ABOUT 1 TO 2 HOURS AFTER ISSUANCE WITH A BETTER  
SURGE OF WINDS WITH NORTHWEST GUSTS AROUND 25KTS THORUGH THIS  
AFTERNOON. WILL MONITOR THE BOUNDARY AND ADJUST TIMING AS  
NEEDED. WINDS AT KLBF DIMINISH THIS EVENING AND WILL REMAIN  
LIGHT THROUGH THE LATTER PORTION OF THE VALID PERIOD.  
 
CIGS ARE CURRENTLY VFR AT KVTN BUT MVFR CIGS UPSTREAM WILL MOVE  
OVER THE AIRFIELD THIS AFTERNOON AND LINGER OVER THE AIRFIELD  
THROUGH TONIGHT BEFORE SCATTERING OUT AROUND DAYBREAK. KLBF IS  
CURRENTLY VFR AND IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN VFR THORUGH THE PERIOD  
AS ANY LOWER CIGS REMAIN OFF TO THE NORTHEAST.  
 

 
   
LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
NONE.  
 

 
 

 
 
SYNOPSIS...BUTTLER  
SHORT TERM...BUTTLER  
LONG TERM...BUTTLER  
AVIATION...MBS  
 
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