textproduct: Hastings

KEY MESSAGES

- Seasonably pleasant today. - The rest of the week will be hot and mostly dry with continued fire weather concerns.

- A Fire Weather Watch is in effect for portions of the area Monday.

UPDATE

Issued at 251 AM CDT Sun May 10 2026

The primary concern through the next week is fire weather. For details on that, please see the Fire Weather section below.

Radar shows some very light showers over northern Kansas continuing to slowly drift southward. These may persist a bit past sunrise, but anything more than 0.01" is unlikely. Otherwise, today looks to be a VERY pleasant day with near normal temperatures (70s), light/variable winds, and clearing skies.

The rest of the week will feature above-normal temperatures (80s and 90s), with only low chances for rain late in the week and into the weekend. Below-normal rainfall totals continue to be favored by the global ensemble models through at least the next 10-15 days.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 330 PM CDT Sat May 9 2026

A cold front crossed the local area early this afternoon switching winds to the north and bringing a few showers to areas mainly south of I-80. Latest mesoanalysis from SPC indicates that there is very limited instability to work with, but evenso, we have seen a couple of weak thunderstorm manage to develop across north central Kansas this past hour. Most recent CAMS suggest additional development across north central Kansas over the next few hours, keeping the more explosive activity to the south of the local forecast area.

Upstream of the area, thunderstorms can be seen expanding in coverage across northeastern Colorado...which is forecast to transition east/southeast through the evening hours... potentially impacting areas mainly south of I-80 late tonight. That said, by the time this activity reaches the local area it should be weakening, and the severe weather potential will likely be limited to stronger wind gusts...if any stronger storms are able to hold together at all. While precipitation totals are generally highly variable with thunderstorms, most locations south of I-80 can expect to see less than 0.10" of precipitation with a few lucky locations across our north central Kansas counties possibly seeing closer to 0.50".

Expect a few lingering showers to then impact portions of north central Kansas early Sunday morning, with clearing skies anticipated areawide by mid to late morning. With high temperatures in the lower 70s, light northerly breezes and ample Sunshine, Sunday should be a very nice day across the area, before temperatures start to ramp up for the start of the work week. This warm-up will be in response to high pressure transitioning across the area aloft by Monday afternoon... helping temperatures to climb into the 80s while suppressing any convective potential. Thus, expect a dry and warm first half of the week, with well above normal temperatures late week as the ridge pushes further east and a west coast low transitions across the intermountain west. Plenty of uncertainty in the track of this low late week with the 12Z operational run of the EC taking it north of the area and the GFS lifting it northeast across Nebraska late Friday. That said, neither the GFS or EC ensembles have a strong signal for precip at this time, so while there are small pops in the forecast late next week, confidence is low. What appears more certain is above normal temperatures returning Monday and likely lingering into the latter part of May.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/

Issued at 1226 AM CDT Sun May 10 2026

For KGRI/KEAR Airports:

VFR condition are forecast throughout the period. Cloud bases currently near 10,000-12,000ft are not expected to drop much lower overnight. Precipitation chances have additionally decreased enough to remove the mention of vicinity showers overnight.

Weak winds (5-10kts), currently out of the north to northeast will soon become almost calm with light and variable winds retaining across much of the day Sunday. Directions will generally become northwest during the day and southwest Sunday evening. Gusts are not likely to exceed 10-15kts.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 242 AM CDT Sun May 10 2026

Winds will be light and variable today and temperatures are expected to be near-normal (highs in the low 70s). As a result, the fire weather threat remains low today.

That changes as we start the workweek on Monday. High temperatures will reach the 80s, pushing humidity down as low as 15-20%. This will be combined with southwest winds gusting up to 25-35 MPH, resulting in widespread near critical to critical fire weather conditions. A Fire Weather Watch has been issued for western zones where fuels remain driest and most susceptible to large fire.

This trend then continues through the rest of the week as above- normal temperatures continue.

A front moves through for Tuesday, resulting in gusty north winds. This will not bring a significant cooldown, though, and humidity is still expected to dip into the teens in many places.

Winds will return to the south for Wednesday, but are expected to be noticably lighter for the eastern half of the area. Western zones could see another round of critical fire weather conditions, though.

On Thursday, temperatures are favored to reach the 90s in many areas, with continued south winds. Friday will feature similar temperatures, but potentially a reprieve from the wind.

Another front is anticipated to move through for Saturday, but, like Tuesday, is unlikely to bring a significant cooldown to the area.

The opportunity for rain is off/on low (10-20%) chances Thursday night through Saturday, but a widespread wetting rain is very unlikely.

GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

NE...Fire Weather Watch from Monday afternoon through Monday evening for NEZ039-040-046-047-060>062-072>074-082>084. KS...None.