Forecast Discussion
NWS Omaha/Valley, NE

570
FXUS63 KOAX 252316
AFDOAX

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Omaha/Valley NE
516 PM CST Tue Nov 25 2025

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Windy today with gusts of 35 to 50 mph across much of the
  areas. Portions of northeast Nebraska could see occasional
  gusts near 60 mph, where a High Wind Warning is in effect.

- A band of snow is expected to bring travel impacts to parts of
  the area Friday into Friday night, with the highest chances
  (40-60%) in far northeast Nebraska into west-central Iowa.
  Questions remain on exact snow amounts at this time.

- Winter weather may continue to impact travel Saturday into
  Monday though confidence in details remains low. Keep up to
  date on the forecast as we go through the week.

- Bitter cold is set after Saturday`s system, with lows falling
  into the single digits and teens Sunday/Monday.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 404 PM CST Tue Nov 25 2025

Today through Thursday:

Water vapor imagery this afternoon features a slightly negatively-
tilted mid/upper trough moving across the Northern Great Plains,
with a departing shortwave pushing into the Mid-Atlantic, while
ridging builds over the West Coast ahead of another system deeper
into the Pacific. We find ourselves on the southern periphery of the
stronger system over the CONUS at the moment, with wind being our
main concern over the next 12 hours. Steep lapse rates are in place,
and we`ve been able to tap into potent low-level winds that are
wrapping around the system to the north. As a result, several gusts
of 55-60+ mph or more in northeast Nebraska have occurred,
while the rest of the forecast area have gusted to 40-55 mph. In
addition to the wind, the steep low-level lapse rates are also
resulting in some shallow showers, some staying as rain and
others getting just cold enough for flurries to develop. No
accumulations are expected, as surface temperatures are still
too warm for anything to survive. Winds are generally peaking
between now and 6 PM, with the main axis of strong winds
expected to continue shifting eastward through the evening and
overnight hours, with gusts diminishing to 20-25 mph at most by
mid-tomorrow morning.

Once winds fall to below Wind Advisory/High Wind levels by midnight,
strong cold air advection will be in place, working to tank
temperatures whether or not cloud cover is in place into the
20s area wide. While this isn`t terribly too far from normal for
this time of year, we have been much warmer than normal, and
those wet spots on pavement will be ice. Heading into the day
tomorrow, high pressure will slowly start pushing southeastward
as the windy system lets us go from its grip. Highs are expected
to top out in the upper 30s to low 40s, with only a few high
clouds wafting overhead for a dry Wednesday. Quiet weather will
carry over into Thanksgiving with even quieter winds, and
similar highs to Wednesday. Most of the weather-making action
will continue to be wrapped around the wind system (now over the
Great Lakes and northeast), with an arriving trough pushing
into the Pacific Northwest.

Friday and Beyond:

That Pacific Northwest trough is poised to be our next weather maker
Friday through Saturday, before ushering very cold air in its wake
going into next week. During the day Friday, winds are expected to
pivot from the north to the southeast as a warm front develops to
our southwest. Looking above the surface, a strong warm air
advective regime is expected to develop and couple with banded
frontogenesis, resulting in areas of snow developing during
the morning before peaking during the afternoon and early
evening hours. Model soundings depict very dry air at the
surface, only being overcome generally north and east of a line
from Harlan, Iowa to Wayne, Nebraska. South of of that line,
their best bet will be during the morning hours and will only
see a few flakes at most as dewpoint depressions at the surface
stay at over 10 degrees.

Saturday continues to be the focus of the extended forecast, with
the bulk of the forcing from the aforementioned mid/upper low
arrives with additional energy from a clipper system that combines
with it. There continues to be considerable model spread with the
finer details of of the system, but ensembles have generally held
steady compared to their previous runs. GEFS suggests a 50% chance
of at least 1" along and northeast of a line from Norfolk to Omaha,
while the EPS has that line more through Yankton, Sioux City, and a
county or so south of Des Moines (the same Norfolk to Omaha line
would be about 20% in this case). One of the major differences
between the two solutions continues to be the arrival and departure
time, with the ECMWF/EPS being deeper and quicker to arrive,
but slower to depart. The quicker system peaks in terms of
precipitation amounts between 6 AM and noon, while the slower
solution does so between noon and 6 PM. An interesting detail
to keep an eye on will be a deep isothermal layer that starts
out outside of the DGZ during the peak of the precipitation, but
gets colder and colder, slowly improving snow ratios while the
overall amount of QPF decreases. Expect the rain snow line to
hand near the surface freezing line, with more details coming
into focus as we get closer. If you have the option to travel
Saturday, try to leave either the day before or the day later to
avoid the mess.

Sunday into next week will be marked by cold temperatures that
plunge us into the 20s at the warmest while low temperatures reach
the single digits to low-teens. No major snow chances look evident
during the cold snap (which should improve by mid-week), but we
often do squeeze out a few flurries during the bitter cold.

&&

.AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z THURSDAY/...
Issued at 505 PM CST Tue Nov 25 2025

Very strong northwest winds continue across the region. Wind
gusts as high as 40 to 45 kts have been observed with sustained
winds of 20 to 30 kts. These winds will continue through this
evening. Clouds associated with the nearby low pressure system
is resulting in 2500 ft to 5000 ft ceilings. While VFR
conditions are expected, brief reductions to MVFR may occur at
OFK and OMA. After midnight, wind speeds begin to decrease
across the area. That said, wind speeds of 15 to 20 kts with
gusts to 30 kts remain possible. Wind speeds will continue to
slowly decrease heading into Wednesday morning across the area.
VFR conditions and lighter northwest winds are anticipated by
Wednesday afternoon.

&&

.OAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NE...High Wind Warning until midnight CST tonight for NEZ011-012-
     015>018-030>034-042>045-050-051.
     Wind Advisory until midnight CST tonight for NEZ052-053-
     065>068-078.
IA...High Wind Warning until midnight CST tonight for IAZ043.
     Wind Advisory until midnight CST tonight for IAZ055-056-069-
     079-080-090.

&&

$$

DISCUSSION...Petersen
AVIATION...Chehak

NWS OAX Office Area Forecast Discussion

Forecast Discussion
NWS Hastings, NE

748
FXUS63 KGID 260452
AFDGID

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Hastings NE
1052 PM CST Tue Nov 25 2025

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Northwesterly winds will continue to gust around 50 to 60 MPH
  through the late afternoon hours with gradual improvement
  expected this evening. Winds should eventually fall to around
  15 MPH after midnight. The High Wind Warning remains in effect
  through 6 PM.

- Light snow is possible for parts of the area Friday through
  Monday. Significant snow accumulation appears unlikely, but
  some areas could see the first accumulating snow of the
  season. The best chance for some accumulating snowfall will
  come with a frontal passage Saturday.

- Below normal temperatures forecast through the period with
  subfreezing high temperatures and single-digit low
  temperatures possible Saturday-Monday.

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 601 PM CST Tue Nov 25 2025

Gusty NW winds will stick around for a few more hours, but with
the threat of gusts exceeding 45+ having diminished, the High
Wind Warning was allowed to expire on time at 6PM. Otherwise no
notable changes were made to the forecast.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 230 PM CST Tue Nov 25 2025

A cold front raced across the area this morning and very strong
winds are being realized in its wake. Given ample sunshine,
mixing has been maximized, and numerous gusts to near 60 MPH
have been observed across the area this afternoon. While winds
will gradually diminish (and become less gusty) this evening,
it will likely remain windy into the late evening hours, and
only subside to around 15 MPH by around midnight.

With the passage of the cold front today, an overall shift in
the general weather pattern is being observed across the area
with generally northwest flow aloft expected to persist for at
least the next week. This will result in below normal
temperatures through the period with some small chances for
precip returning (likely snow) Friday through Monday. At this
time, the best shot for widespread accumulating snowfall appears
to be Saturday, but several other small chances are expected.

Starting off with Wednesday, some models are indicating a weak
upper level disturbance will slide across the area during the
afternoon hours. While confidence in any precip is not high, did
put some silent near 10 percent chances for precip during the
afternoon hours. This would be trace amounts, and likely just a
few flurries if realized.

For Thanksgiving day, not a bad day is anticipated across the
area as very light winds will accompany the below normal temps
in the 40s. As we transition into Friday, models have been
keying in on a quick passing disturbance clipping eastern
Nebraska. Models have been pretty consistent keeping
precipitation out of our local area, but have some small pops in
there with the focus expected to be to our east. Trace amounts
of precip is all that is currently expected locally.

As we then transition into Saturday, a stronger upper level
system looks to be aimed towards the local area with a cold
front bringing another round of strong winds and a better
potential for some accumulating snowfall. In this fairly
progressive pattern, accumulations should be light, and the
current forecast only has around an inch of snow for Saturday
along the front. Would not be surprised for this to increase
some (maybe 2 or 3" in the most favored spots?), and with the
strong winds, there could be some notable impacts/reduced
visibilities at times during the daytime hours Saturday.

Thereafter...temperatures really fall behind Saturdays cold
front with several days of highs likely not topping freezing
along with lows in the teens. There will also be additional
small chances for light snow Sunday and Monday, but overall
confidence is not high over this period.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z THURSDAY/...
Issued at 1049 PM CST Tue Nov 25 2025

For KGRI/KEAR Airports:

Dry weather with VFR conditions are forecast for this TAF
period. Later in the day Wed into the evening hours, more cloud
cover will be working its way into the area...and ceilings are
currently forecast to stay VFR, but it may be close. A few
models also show the potential for some flurries to develop
around this same time...confidence in that occurring or
impacting the terminal sites is not high enough to put in a
mention. Winds remain west-northwesterly through the daytime
hours Wednesday...speeds continue to taper off tonight, dropping
closer to the 10-15 MPH range. Light-variable winds are expected
to develop for the final few hours of this period.

&&

.GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NE...None.
KS...None.

&&

$$

UPDATE...ADP
DISCUSSION...Rossi
AVIATION...ADP

NWS GID Office Area Forecast Discussion