Fire started in southern Custer County during the afternoon of April 22nd. By the time the fire was contained on May 5th, it burned approximately 9,141 acres.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS LBF wrote it up.
Fire started in southern Custer County during the afternoon of April 22nd. By the time the fire was contained on May 5th, it burned approximately 9,141 acres.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS North Platte, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 22, 2:16 PM CST, 23 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service North Platte NE 316 PM CDT Wed Apr 22 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Red Flag Warning for today and Thursday for all of western and north central Nebraska - Isolated to scattered thunderstorms this afternoon and evening with the potential for dry lightning - Isolated thunderstorms possible late tonight across north central Nebraska - Increasing confidence in precipitation Saturday night through Monday. Beneficial amounts continue to look more favorable for the area. - Wet snow may occur across the northwest portion of the forecast area on Sunday. && .SHORT TERM /THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... Issued at 307 PM CDT Wed Apr 22 2026 The main concern in the short term will be critical fire weather conditions today and Thursday and thunderstorm potential this afternoon and evening. For this afternoon a sfc trof will push eastward with some isolated to widely scattered thunderstorm development possible. Storms that develop across western Nebraska, generally west of HWY 83, are expected to be high based. Soundings across western Nebraska have the inverted v signature and thus expect thunderstorms to remain mostly dry with very little rainfall expected and the potential from some downdraft winds that could potentially be 50 mph or greater. There will also be a threat for dry lightning as well. Southerly winds should advect some moisture into portions of the Sandhills and north central Nebraska, generally along and east of HWY 83. As storms move eastward into the evening hours they may move into a more favorable environment for more sfc based storm development. This will then lead into main hazard of concern becoming a hail threat, although there may be more moisture at the sfc to the mid levels east of HWY 83, still don't expect rainfall amounts with thunderstorms to be anything more than a few hundredths of an inch. Tonight a low level jet will strengthen across the area. There will be a corridor of moisture from the Sandhills into north central Nebraska and expect some sfc based storms to develop late tonight, generally after 11pm CDT and continue into the early morning hours. Backing sfc winds and CAPE values around 1500 to 2000 J/kg, confidence is increasing in isolated to scattered thunderstorm development across the northern Sandhills and will move eastward into north central Nebraska. Could see the potential for severe hail (greater than 1"). Winds shift overnight to the west northwest and will remain breezy through the morning. Winds will increase into the afternoon around 20 to 35 mph with gusts of 45 mph. Soundings across western Nebraska would suggest the strongest winds will generally along and west of HWY 83. Min RH will also be low with most locations across southwest Nebraska and the southern Sandhills ranging from 10 to 15 percent, elsewhere min RH will generally be in the upper teens to around 20 percent. A Red Flag Warning will be in effect from 10am CDT to 8pm CDT. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 307 PM CDT Wed Apr 22 2026 An active weather pattern will continue into the weekend. The northern stream system will continue to weaken to the north on Saturday, while a southern stream upper level trough moves into the western United States. This will result in broad southwest flow across the region. At the surface, low pressure is expected to develop across eastern Colorado, with a warm front extending across Kansas and gradually moving north. This will promote increasing moisture advection and support deeper moisture profiles across the area Saturday night into Sunday, especially as the warm front continues to move northward. By early Sunday morning, increasing mid-level warm air advection and frontogenesis, combined with southeast upslope flow, will lead to precipitation developing and continuing through much of the day. Recent model guidance continues to indicate an increasing potential for a widespread precipitation event from Saturday night through Monday morning. The NBM 50th percentile currently suggests widespread precipitation amounts exceeding one-half inch, while the 75th and 90th percentile indicate potential closer to one inch. Ensemble guidance also supports this trend, with the GEFS showing a 60 to 70 percent probability of exceeding one-half inch, and the EPS indicating 70 to 90 percent probabilities across the Sandhills into central/north- central Nebraska. Across southwest Nebraska, probabilities are somewhat lower but still in the 40 to 50 percent range, increasing confidence in a soaking precipitation event. In addition to the rainfall, there is some potential for wet snow, particularly across the northwest portion of the CWA, as cooler air associated with the northern stream system lingers. Ensemble guidance suggests a 50 to 60 percent chance of at least one inch of snowfall in this area. The primary uncertainty remains the track and speed of the weekend system, both of which will influence overall precipitation amounts and distribution across the region. Heading into the early next week, cooler temperatures will follow in the wake of the weekend system, with lows near or below freezing Monday and Tuesday mornings. Highs on Monday will be in the 50s, warming into the 60s by Tuesday. An unsettled pattern is expected to persist, with multiple weak disturbances bringing periodic chances for showers. Another stronger storm system may approach the region by midweek, potentially bringing additional and better precipitation chances. This will continued to be monitored over the next several days. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY/... Issued at 1254 PM CDT Wed Apr 22 2026 Winds will be gusty out of the south with gusts of 40 kts or greater this afternoon. Winds will still remain gusty this evening, with 20 kts sustained and gusts around 30 kts. Winds will then switch to the west northwest overnight with winds around 10 to 15 kts and gusts up to 20 kts. There will be some LLWS across the northern Sandhills, including KVTN terminal with winds above the sfc around 40 kts for a few hours, generally midnight through the early morning hours. Isolated thunderstorms will be possible late this afternoon and evening across western Nebraska and the Sandhills. Additional thunderstorms will may also be possible around midnight with erratic strong winds possible, and may impact KVTN terminal. && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 307 PM CDT Wed Apr 22 2026 Critical fire weather conditions will continue through mid evening across all of western and north central Nebraska. Southerly wind gusts up to 50 MPH remain possible through sunset with winds decreasing into the late evening hours. Winds will then shift to the west overnight as a surface trough of low pressure tracks through the region. In addition to gusty winds and low RH across all of western and north central Nebraska, there is also a threat for dry lightning tonight mainly west of highway 83 from Valentine to North Platte. RH recovery tonight will be meager with max RH generally less than 40 percent west of highway 61. Between highway 83 and 61, RH recovery will range from 40 to 60 percent. East of highway 83, RH recovery will range from 60 to 90 percent. Thursday will feature critical fire weather conditions across all of western and north central Nebraska. Though temperatures will be cooler, westerly winds gusting up to 40 MPH, will combine with low relative humidities of 10 to 20 percent, producing critical fire weather conditions across all of western and north central Nebraska. West winds will shift to the northwest and north Thursday evening as a cold front crosses the area. RH recovery Thursday night will range from 70 to 85 percent across the area. && .LBF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Red Flag Warning until 9 PM CDT /8 PM MDT/ this evening for NEZ204-206-208>210-219. Red Flag Warning from 10 AM CDT /9 AM MDT/ to 8 PM CDT /7 PM MDT/ Thursday for NEZ204-206-208>210-219. && SHORT TERM...Gomez LONG TERM...Gomez/Labenz AVIATION...Gomez FIRE WEATHER...Buttler
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service North Platte NE 1108 AM CDT Wed Apr 22 2026 NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-094-231615- 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- 1108 AM CDT Wed Apr 22 2026 /1008 AM MDT Wed Apr 22 2026/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of western and north central Nebraska. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight. A Red Flag Warning is in effect for all of western and north central Nebraska today. Gusty south winds and low humidity can be expected. Isolated to widely scattered thunderstorms are expected to develop late this afternoon west of Highway 83. This initial development could contain dry lightning, along with erratic, strong, possibly damaging wind gusts. As humidity increases the dry lightning threat should wane this evening. However, the chance for large hail and damaging wind gusts will remain, and spread farther to the east towards central Nebraska. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. A combination of low humidity and gusty west to northwest winds Thursday, will likely bring near critical or critical fire weather conditions once again. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be needed.
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service North Platte NE
209 PM MDT Wed Apr 22 2026
NEZ023-024-094-222100-
Hooker NE-Grant NE-Western Cherry NE-
209 PM MDT Wed Apr 22 2026
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT SOUTH CENTRAL CHERRY...
NORTHEASTERN GRANT AND NORTHWESTERN HOOKER COUNTIES THROUGH 300 PM
MDT...
At 207 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over
Whitman, or 25 miles west of Mullen, moving northeast at 35 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 40 mph.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects.
Locations impacted include...
Whitman, Whitman Road crossing the North Branch of the Middle Loup
River, Speckel Meir Lake, Duluth, Sevenmile Hill, and Hire.
This includes Highway 2 between mile markers 152 and 167.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
Occasional lightning is occurring with this storm. With little
accompanying rainfall, rangeland fire starts due to lightning
strikes are possible.
&&
LAT...LON 4194 10146 4202 10168 4253 10142 4241 10104
TIME...MOT...LOC 2007Z 205DEG 30KT 4205 10153
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPHSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service North Platte NE
329 PM CDT Wed Apr 22 2026
NEZ023-024-035-036-057-222115-
Hooker NE-Grant NE-Arthur NE-McPherson NE-Keith NE-
329 PM CDT Wed Apr 22 2026
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT EASTERN ARTHUR...SOUTHEASTERN
GRANT...NORTHWESTERN KEITH...SOUTHWESTERN HOOKER AND WESTERN
MCPHERSON COUNTIES THROUGH 415 PM CDT/315 PM MDT/...
At 329 PM CDT/229 PM MDT/, Doppler radar was tracking a strong
thunderstorm near Lemoyne, or 13 miles north of Ogallala, moving
northeast at 45 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 40 mph.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects.
Locations impacted include...
Arthur, Swan Lake, Lemoyne, Keystone, Kingsley Dam, Lena, Sand Puddin
Lake, Flatts, Big Lamunyon Flats, Cogill Lake, McKeag, East Cody
Lake, Calora, Green Lake, Bucktail Lake, Sand Beach Lake, Three Mile
Lake, Diamond Bar Lake, Bucktail, and Schnick Lake.
This includes the following highways...
Highway 61 between mile markers 93 and 127.
Highway 92 between mile markers 129 and 190.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
Occasional lightning is occurring with this storm. With little
accompanying rainfall, rangeland fire starts due to lightning
strikes are possible.
&&
LAT...LON 4114 10161 4128 10189 4192 10151 4175 10101
TIME...MOT...LOC 2029Z 209DEG 38KT 4133 10169
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.00 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH
NMJThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Fire started during the late afternoon hours of April 22nd in southern Custer County. Aided by strong southerly winds, the fire spread north, consuming approximately 9,141 acres by the time it was fully contained on May 5th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, April 2026
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1332510.