Snow Squall Warning 9, NWS North Platte, NE

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service North Platte NE
601 PM CST Wed Dec 21 2022

...AVIATION...

.SYNOPSIS...
Issued at 339 PM CST Wed Dec 21 2022

- Dangerous winter weather has arrived today as an Arctic airmass
  brings a stretch of cold temperatures rivaling records from
  1983.

- Life-threatening wind chill values are expected area wide
  tonight and Friday morning with readings colder than 40 below
  zero.

- Light snow with strong winds will lead to difficult travel late
  this afternoon through tonight across western and north central
  Nebraska due to reduced visibility.

- All winter weather headlines remain the same as the previous
  forecast.

&&

.SHORT TERM...(This evening through Thursday night)
Issued at 339 PM CST Wed Dec 21 2022

The arctic cold front has progressed rapid southward this
afternoon as is nearly through the forecast area as of 2030Z. Near
blizzard conditions have developed across much of Sheridan and
Cherry County. Snow will spread quickly southeast this afternoon
and evening producing widespread blowing snow and reduced
visibility. A cross section from Chadron through Holdrege
indicates organized ageostrophic circulation propagating
southward this evening. Slantwise convection favored with weak
negative EPV present. GFS bufkit sounding for North Platte shows
favorable lift in the dendritic layer between 800-650MB with
strong omega from 00Z-03Z. This is representative of other
locations across the area. One inch accumulations are likely
everywhere thorugh this evening, with the potential for around 2
inches, especially across the southeastern half of the forecast
area. Current Winter Weather Advisories remain in effect.
Visibilities will fall to a quarter mile in falling snow with a
gradual improvement after the snow ends. the worse conditions will
last 3 to 6 hours as the snow moves through.

Dangerous wind chills have already set in as Gordon AWOS reporting
a wind chill of 42 below as of 21Z. Wind chills will fall to 50 to
60 below overnight across north central Nebraska. Wind chills of
this magnitude will rival those of December 1983. Northwest winds
of 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 45 mph tonight. Overnight lows from
18 below to 29 below.

Conditions do not improve much during the daytime hours Thursday.
Skies will gradually clear across the west and remain mostly
cloudy across the east. Afternoon high temperatures will remain
below zero for all and may not climb above 10 below for the
Sandhills and north central Nebraska. A strong pressure gradient
will continue across the area, supporting strong wind gusts of 30
to 40 mph through the day. Wind chills for the daytime will only
improve to 30 to 45 below zero for all. On top of this, definite
to patchy blowing snow will continue through the day with the
Winter Weather Advisory to continue. Visibilities in open area
will remain a mile or less at times. This will continue to be
dangerous/life threatening weather conditions to be caught
outdoors in so travel is not advised and limit time outdoors if
at all possible.

.LONG TERM...(Friday through Wednesday)
Issued at 339 PM CST Wed Dec 21 2022

The deep closed low will move over the Great Lakes on Friday with
height rises moving into the region. Surface high pressure ridge
will will begin to settle over the area  which should lead to
gradually waning winds during the afternoon. Morning lows will
range from 15 to 20 below and persistent wind gusts will support
wind chills at 35 below zero or colder across the entire area,
thus the continued wind chill warning through Friday. Temperatures
at h85 recover slightly, leading to a modest warmup. High
temperatures are still likely to remain generally around the
single digits below zero north and the single digits southwest.
Wind chills during the day only improve to 15 to 25 below zero, so
caution is once again advised.

Surface high pressure will settle east of the area by Christmas
Eve with westerly downsloping flow expected to develop across far
western Nebraska. This may bring a few locations to the freezing
mark far southwest but single digits persist in the northeast.

A warming trend will carry into Christmas Day with most locations
reaching the upper 30s and 40s. An Alberta Clipper dives southeast
into the local area bringing low end precipitation chances to
north central Nebraska.

Upper level ridging Tuesday which would support above normal
temperatures. Highs return into the 40s to low 50s central
Sandhills and southwest.

&&

.AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Thursday evening)
Issued at 552 PM CST Wed Dec 21 2022

Snow and blowing snow will continue to impact north central,
western and southwest Nebraska through the overnight, with blowing
snow continuing through the morning. Visibilities will reduced as
low as 1/2 mile and even lower in some locations creating IFR and
LIFR conditions. Strong winds will continue through the day
Thursday with gust up to 35 kts out of the north to northwest.
Areas across the northern Sandhills where more snow is on the
ground, could still see lingering areas of blowing snow during
the day on Thursday.

&&

.LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Wind Chill Warning until noon CST /11 AM MST/ Saturday for
NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094.

Winter Weather Advisory until 6 AM CST /5 AM MST/ Friday for
NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094.

&&

SYNOPSIS...Roberg
SHORT TERM...Roberg
LONG TERM...Roberg
AVIATION...Gomez

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service North Platte NE
246 PM CST Wed Dec 21 2022

NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-222100-
Sheridan-Eastern Cherry-Keya Paha-Boyd-Brown-Rock-Holt-Garden-Grant-
Hooker-Thomas-Blaine-Loup-Garfield-Wheeler-Arthur-McPherson-Logan-
Custer-Deuel-Keith-Perkins-Lincoln-Chase-Hayes-Frontier-
Western Cherry-
246 PM CST Wed Dec 21 2022 /146 PM MST Wed Dec 21 2022/

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of western and north
central Nebraska.

.DAY ONE...Tonight.

Please see the latest forecast and winter weather bulletin for
details on the following winter weather warnings and advisories in
your area.

A Wind Chill Warning is in effect through tonight across all of
western and north central Nebraska. The concern is wind chill
readings of 30 below to 60 below zero.

A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect tonight across all of western
and north central Nebraska. A period of snow combined with strong
winds will create areas of blowing snow and visibility below 1 mile.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday.

A Wind Chill Warning continues through Saturday morning for wind
chill values of 30 below to 50 below zero. The warning covers all of
western and north central Nebraska.

A Winter Weather Advisory continues in effect through early Friday
morning across all of western and north central Nebraska. Blowing
snow due to strong winds may continue to lower visibility below 1
mile.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service North Platte NE
400 PM CST Wed Dec 21 2022

NEZ004>010-023>029-037-038-094-220400-
Sheridan-Eastern Cherry-Keya Paha-Boyd-Brown-Rock-Holt-Grant-
Hooker-Thomas-Blaine-Loup-Garfield-Wheeler-Logan-Custer-
Western Cherry-
Including the cities of Gordon, Rushville, Valentine, Springview,
Spencer, Butte, Lynch, Ainsworth, Bassett, Rose, Oneill,
Atkinson, Hyannis, Mullen, Thedford, Halsey, Dunning, Purdum,
Brewster, Taylor, Burwell, Bartlett, Ericson, Stapleton,
Broken Bow, Cody, Eli, Merriman, and Kilgore
400 PM CST Wed Dec 21 2022 /300 PM MST Wed Dec 21 2022/

...BLIZZARD OR BLIZZARD LIKE CONDITIONS POSSIBLE THROUGH MID
EVENING OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...

A strong arctic cold front has brought bitterly cold temperatures,
gusty northwesterly winds and light to briefly moderate intensity
snowfall to portions of central and north central Nebraska this
afternoon. This quick moving system is expected to clear north
central and central Nebraska by mid evening. From now until mid
evening, there will be a threat for blizzard or near blizzard
conditions in these areas. Visibilities as low as a half a mile
with localized areas of a quarter mile or less are possible.
Blowing snow and bitterly cold temperatures are expected overnight
across the area however, look for visibilities to begin to
improve by mid evening as snow ends across the area.

In the meantime, travel over north central Nebraska should be
avoided until conditions improve. If you must travel, pack a
winter survival kit in your car. If you become stranded, do not
leave your vehicle.

CLB

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
410 PM CST WED DEC 21 2022

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0404 PM     SNOW             3 N THEDFORD            42.02N 100.57W
12/21/2022  U0.0 INCH        THOMAS             NE   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            REPORT FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT OF NEAR WHITE OUT CONDITIONS.

&&

GOMEZ

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
630 PM CST WED DEC 21 2022

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0515 PM     EXTR WIND CHILL  GORDON                  42.81N 102.20W
12/21/2022  M-46 F           SHERIDAN           NE   AWOS

&&

CHRISTOPHER.BUTTLER