650  
FXUS63 KOAX 180428  
AFDOAX  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE  
1128 PM CDT FRI APR 17 2026  
   
KEY MESSAGES
 
 
- SATURDAY AND SUNDAY MORNING LOW TEMPERATURES WILL DIP BELOW  
FREEZING FOR MANY LOCATIONS. SENSITIVE EARLY SEASON  
VEGETATION COULD BE DAMAGED.  
 
- DRY CONDITIONS AND GUSTY WINDS WILL LEAD TO VERY HIGH TO  
EXTREME FIRE DANGER ACROSS NORTHEAST NEBRASKA INTO WESTERN  
IOWA SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  
 
- A GRADUAL WARMING TREND BEGINS ON SUNDAY. RELATIVELY WARM,  
DRY, AND QUIET WEATHER WILL ACCOMPANY THIS UNTIL OUR NEXT  
POTENTIAL WEATHER SYSTEM BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.  
 

 
   
DISCUSSION
 
 
ISSUED AT 1106 PM CDT FRI APR 17 2026  
 
AFTER AN ACTIVE DAY OF SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS MUCH OF THE MIDWEST  
AND GREAT PLAINS, MUCH QUIETER WEATHER IS BEGINNING TO SET IN  
BEHIND A STRONG COLD FRONT. MUCH COOLER AIR IS CONTINUING TO  
FILTER IN LATE THIS EVENING ON GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS. MUCH OF  
THE AREA WILL SEE TEMPERATURES BOTTOM OUT IN THE UPPER 20S TO  
LOW 30S WITH ONLY PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST  
IOWA REMAINING ABOVE FREEZING BY SATURDAY MORNING. WITH THIS IN  
MIND, PORTIONS OF THE AREA ARE UNDER A FREEZE WARNING WHERE  
SIGNIFICANT GREENING OF VEGETATION HAS BEGUN. TEMPERATURES WILL  
GRADUALLY WARM INTO THE 50S BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. WHILE THE  
MAIN SHORTWAVE FROM FRIDAY WILL BE WELL EAST OF THE AREA, THE  
BASE OF A BROADER TROUGH WILL BE PASSING OVERHEAD DURING THE  
AFTERNOON. THIS WILL SUPPORT CONTINUED GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS.  
THESE WINDS COMBINED WITH RELATIVE HUMIDITY BELOW 20 PERCENT FOR  
MUCH OF THE AREA RESULTS IN VERY HIGH TO EXTREME FIRE DANGER  
FOR NORTHEAST NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF WESTERN IOWA. A RED FLAG  
WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE AFOREMENTIONED AREA DUE TO THIS. WINDS  
WILL FINALLY BEGIN TO WEAKEN SATURDAY EVENING AS SURFACE HIGH  
PRESSURE BUILDS ACROSS THE REGION. SUNDAY MORNING STARTS COLD  
ONCE AGAIN, MAINLY IN THE 30S. SOME LOCATIONS NORTH OF  
INTERSTATE 80 MAY SEE SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES AS WELL.  
THANKFULLY, A WARMING TREND BEGINS BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON.  
 
SUNDAY AFTERNOON ONWARDS SEES THE RETURN OF WARMER, BUT  
RELATIVELY QUIET AND DRY WEATHER INTO AT LEAST THE MIDDLE OF  
NEXT WEEK. UPPER-LEVEL RIDGING WILL BEGIN TO BUILD ACROSS THE  
GREAT PLAINS AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE SLIDES EAST OF THE REGION.  
TEMPERATURES CLIMB BACK INTO THE 60S ON SUNDAY, 70S ON MONDAY,  
AND 80S BY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AHEAD OF OUR NEXT POTENTIAL  
WEATHER SYSTEM. LATE WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY A LARGE TROUGH  
ACROSS THE WESTERN CONUS BEGINS TO EJECT INTO THE GREAT PLAINS.  
AT THIS TIME, SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THE EXACT EVOLUTION OF  
THIS SYSTEM REMAIN, BUT AN ACTIVE PATTERN APPEARS LIKELY.  
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS RETURN TO THE FORECAST WITH SEVERE  
POTENTIAL A POSSIBILITY GIVEN THE TIME OF YEAR. A COLD FRONT  
THEN APPEARS TO ARRIVE BY THE END OF THE WEEK INTO NEXT WEEKEND.  
MORE CONCRETE DETAILS SHOULD BE KNOWN AS WE MOVE THROUGH NEXT  
WEEK.  
 

 
   
AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z SUNDAY/
 
 
ISSUED AT 617 PM CDT FRI APR 17 2026  
 
VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. STRONG  
AND GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING.  
CLOUDS WILL GRADUALLY SCATTER AS WELL. WINDS MAY BRIEFLY WEAKEN  
OVERNIGHT. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN SPEED ONCE AGAIN BY  
SATURDAY AFTERNOON.  
 

 
   
OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
NE...RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON TO 8 PM CDT SATURDAY FOR NEZ011-012-  
015>018-030>034-042>045-050-051-065.  
FREEZE WARNING UNTIL 9 AM CDT SATURDAY FOR NEZ030-042>044-050-  
051-065-078-088.  
IA...RED FLAG WARNING FROM NOON TO 8 PM CDT SATURDAY FOR IAZ043.  
 

 
 

 
 
DISCUSSION...CHEHAK  
AVIATION...CHEHAK  
 
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