North Platte, Nebraska

• Moderate to high confidence in continued light showers through this evening with patchy fog early Sunday morning.
• Moderate to high confidence in increasing precipitation potential by the end of the weekend and into the beginning of next week.
• Moderate confidence in cooler and dry conditions by mid-week lasting through the end of the week.

Isolated to scattered showers will continue through the evening hours. Any additional rainfall amounts will only total a couple hundredths, so significant rainfall is not anticipated with this system. As rain tapers off by late evening, ample moisture across the region will promote an increase in fog development heading into the wee hours of Sunday morning. Not anticipating dense fog, but some patchy fog primarily along and south of Highway 2 could limit visibilities down to 2 miles at times. Still, those traveling early Sunday morning should allow for extra time and be prepared for rapidly changing conditions. Patchy fog will continue through the morning hours, giving way to low stratus by early afternoon lasting through late afternoon. While no precipitation is expected during the day on Sunday, cloudy and dreary conditions will be likely and with some low clouds hanging around much of the day, would not be surprised to see some light drizzle as well. Confidence is too low to put into the forecast at this time, but worth a mention here for those hoping for a completely dry forecast by the afternoon. Irrespective of the cloudy conditions, temperatures are anticipated to warm adequately into the low to mid 60s for most locations. Some areas across the eastern Panhandle will only rise into the upper 50s.

A better potential for significant rainfall arrives Sunday night lasting into Tuesday. A developing low pressure system off the Rockies will push eastward into Nebraska and South Dakota bringing widespread rain showers and even some isolated thunderstorms to the region. While QPF amounts are still a little uncertain, confidence is high that most locations, especially north of Highway 2, will see at least a half inch of rainfall. Currently, the best instability will remain off to the east and south keeping the severe risk low, however, QPF could exceed over an inch under some of the heavier showers or thunderstorms. While these rainfall totals are significant, the longer duration of this system should keep any flooding concerns at bay. Still, will be monitoring the rainfall totals and flooding potential closely as the event unfolds. Will also need to monitor the precipitation type as the system begins to push out Monday night and Tuesday morning. Colder air filtering in behind the departing low may result in a brief change over to snow across the higher elevations of the Pine Ridge. At this time, confidence remains too low to put in the forecast, but if the colder air can push in quickly, it will be possible to see a few wet snowflakes early Tuesday morning. Regardless if this happens, not expecting any accumulations.

Drier weather returns for mid-week through the end of the week as upper level ridging builds back over the Great Plains. Despite the quieter conditions, temperatures will remain slightly below normals Wednesday through Friday. Highs will remain in the low to mid 50s across the area (normals in the upper 50s to low 60s). Lows will drop into the low to mid 30s, which coincidentally is a few degrees above normals in the upper 20s.

Isolated showers will persist through this evening impacting mainly areas along and east of US-83. Expect reduced visibilities due to falling rain and light fog as low as 2 miles at times. Ceilings will generally remain at or below 1000 feet across southwest Nebraska. Further to the north, ceilings will gradually lift to 2000 feet by Sunday morning. Precipitation will push out by late evening giving way to a brief dry period before the next system arrives Sunday night.

None.