Chadron, Nebraska 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

066
FXUS65 KCYS 052258
AFDCYS

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Cheyenne WY
458 PM MDT Tue May 5 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- A significant, late season snow storm is moving across the
  area. The greatest impacts are  between Tuesday afternoon and
  Wednesday morning.

- Snow will accumulate over 5500 feet in elevation, with
  significant snowfall expected in and near the Snowy Range and
  southern Laramie Range

- Snowfall is expected to be heavy and wet, which could damage
  tree limbs and produce power outages.

- Travel impacts due to snowfall are expected along Interstate
  80 between Rawlins and Cheyenne, and Interstate 25 between
  Wheatland and the Colorado state line.

- Impacts may extend eastward on Interstate 80 towards Kimball,
  mainly Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night as colder air moves
  into the area.

- Drier, warmer, and windier weather returns to the area for the
  second half of the work week.

&&

.SHORT TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
Issued at 259 PM MDT Tue May 5 2026

The reinforcing trough is expected to come late this evening into
tonight. The meso-low can be see on mid-level water vapor quickly
diving southeast from Montana. This Meso-low should provide
additional synoptic lift to produce some stronger snow rates and
decent accumulations. The RAP also predicts another large band of
FGEN to sit over the southern portion of Southeast Wyoming
stretching from Carbon to Laramie County. The Hi-res models adds
another 4 to 8 inches for Cheyenne and another 10 to 12 inches for
the Foothills/Summit area. However, if the band moves quicker than
forecasted then a lot less accumulation would be expected as the
10th percentile only has about 2 inches for Cheyenne and maybe 6 to
10 inches for the summit and foothills area. On the other hand if
this wave over performs we could see another 8.0 to 10 inches for
Cheyenne and 12 to 18 inches for the Summit and foothills as
depicted in the 90th Percentile. Model guidance still shows some
lingering showers that last into Wednesday afternoon, however with
the dry air mass moving into the region and lack of synoptic support
from the fleeting system, pops were reduced from NBM past 15z (9am)
Wednesday. 15 percent pops were kept along the southern counties
until 21z(3pm). Tonight, 700mb temperatures will drop between -9 to
-12C. Temperatures will drop into the 20`s tonight essentially
 freezing the currently wet roads. The slick icy roads may make
 travel a little more difficult and hazardous at times.

&&

.LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/...
Issued at 400 AM MDT Tue May 5 2026

Drier air will move in overhead Wednesday night, leading to clearing
skies. Areas with fresh snow cover (primarily Laramie and Cheyenne)
may have a window to see temperatures drop quickly before westerly
winds and strong warm air advection returns late Wednesday night or
Thursday morning. We could see overnight lows reached in the
evening, with warming occurring later as the winds pick up. The
arctic high pressure moving through over the next few days will be
settled in over the interior Rockies by Wednesday night. On the
large scale, the overall weather pattern will shift into a northwest
flow pattern with a ridge located over the West Coast, and the
persistent upper level trough remaining over the Hudson Bay region.
Another progressive shortwave will approach the area as early as
Thursday. This feature will be accompanied by a surface trough,
which will drop surface pressure over the High Plains. As a result,
we will need to watch for the potential for a gap wind event
Wednesday night into Thursday morning. High wind probabilities
remain around 30 to 40%. Interestingly, this event appears to a low-
level / surface driven gap wind event, which is somewhat unusual
this late in the wind season. 700-mb winds look unlikely to exceed
50 knots, and 700-mb height gradients are fairly unimpressive. For
now, winds were nudged towards the NBM 90th percentile in the
official forecast, but remain below high wind criteria. Both the
Arlington/Elk Mountain and I-80 summit areas will have ample snow on
the ground when the winds pick up. We could have some blowing snow
concerns, but there is a lot of uncertainty in this owing to the
snow consistency and how much thawing (i.e. wetting the snow) can
occur on Wednesday.

Expect a breezy to windy day elsewhere Thursday with temperatures
quickly recovering to near seasonal averages. The Laramie to
Cheyenne corridor will remain cool, but the rest of the area should
warm above average. The next shortwave aloft will arrive late
Thursday, and will bring a chance scattered showers and isolated
thunderstorms across the area Thursday afternoon and Thursday night.
This will not bring much rainfall, but temperatures will be warm
enough that we will not have to worry about snow. The northwest flow
pattern should remain fairly locked in place through the weekend.
Overall, expect temperatures near seasonal averages and breezy to
windy northwest winds every day. We will also remain fairly
unsettled, with chances for showers each day.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z THURSDAY/...
Issued at 456 PM MDT Tue May 5 2026

Snow and rain will continue to drive low clouds and IFR to LIFR
conditions through the overnight hours for all sites except for
KCDR/KAIA where only mid level clouds and a passing shower are
anticipated. Tomorrow morning, conditions will begin to clear
and we should see precipitation exiting and CIGs lifting and
clearing. By tomorrow afternoon, all sites should have mid to
high level or clear skies with winds light at around 10 knots or
less.

&&

.CYS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WY...Winter Weather Advisory until 9 AM MDT Wednesday for WYZ103-
     105-106-112-119.
     Winter Weather Advisory until 9 AM MDT Wednesday for WYZ104-
     109.
     Winter Storm Warning until noon MDT Wednesday for WYZ110-114-
     116-117.
     Winter Storm Warning until 9 AM MDT Wednesday for WYZ115-118.
NE...Winter Weather Advisory until 9 AM MDT Wednesday for NEZ054.

&&

$$

SHORT TERM...MM
LONG TERM...MN
AVIATION...CG