Western Cherry

... Red flag warning in effect from 1 PM CDT /noon MDT/ this
afternoon to 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/ this evening for wind and low
relative humidity for fire zone 204 south of Highway 2 and fire
zone 210 including Chase and Perkins counties...

The National Weather Service in North Platte has issued a red
flag warning for wind and low relative humidity... which is in
effect from 1 PM CDT /noon MDT/ this afternoon to 7 PM CDT /6 PM
MDT/ this evening.

* Affected area... in Nebraska... fire weather zone 204 eastern
Panhandle/Crescent Lake NWR and fire weather zone 210
Frenchman basin.

* Winds... west 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph.

* Timing... from noon MDT through 6 PM MDT.

* Relative humidity... as low as 15 percent.

* Temperatures... in the upper 70s to lower 80s.

* Impacts... any fires which may develop later today... have a
very high potential for explosive growth.

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are either occurring now... or will shortly. A combination of
strong winds... low relative humidity... and warm temperatures will
create explosive fire growth potential.

... Record high temperature set at North Platte NE...

a record high temperature of 97 degrees was set at North Platte NE today.
This breaks the old record of 92 set in 1930.

... Record high temperatures... powerful winds... and dense
fog across western and central Nebraska Saturday and
Saturday night...

A powerful storm system across The Rockies pushed into the
central and northern plains Saturday. An unusually sharp and well
defined warm front setup across Nebraska... bisecting the state
from north to south. On the northern side of the warm
front... temperatures remained in the 60s with low clouds and dense
fog across portions of Cherry and Sheridan counties. South of the
warm front... unusually warm and dry conditions developed across
much of southern and western Nebraska. South-southwesterly winds
gusted into the 40 and 50 mph range with temperatures soaring into
the upper 80s to upper 90s. This included record high temperatures
at North Platte... Broken Bow... and Imperial.

A listing of high temperatures Saturday afternoon and peak wind
gusts Saturday and Saturday night are listed below. All data is
considered preliminary at this time. Data observations are
collected from Airport observing sites... Nebraska department of
roads... NWS cooperative weather observers... and Union Pacific
observation sites.

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Location maximum temperature (f)

Paxton... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 98
Ogallala... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .97
North Platte... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 97 (record)
Imperial... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .97 (record)
Brewster... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .96
Hayes Center... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 96
Mason City... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..95
Big Springs... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .95
Broken Bow... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..95 (record)
Stapleton... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 94
Sutherland... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..92
Oneill... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 91
Lewellen... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .91

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Location peak wind gust (mph)

12w Big Springs... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 58
Ellsworth... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 53
Imperial... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .53
Broken Bow... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..47
North Platte... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 46
Lewellen... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .46
Ogallala... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .46
Brewster... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .45
Sutherland... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..44
Valentine... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 43
Ainsworth... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 41

***these data are preliminary and have not undergone final quality
control by the National climatic data center /ncdc/.
Therefore... these data are subject to revision. Final and
certified climate data can be accessed at www.Ncdc.NOAA.Gov.***