textproduct: Hastings

KEY MESSAGES

- Scattered precipitation chances (15-25%) return to the area Wednesday afternoon-night for southwestern portions of the area. Rain chances continue (15-45%) on Thursday but still favor southwestern areas.

- Scattered, low confidence PoPs (20-45%) continue Friday onwards though details remain uncertain due to a messy, blocking atmospheric pattern.

- Highs generally near to above normal through the forecast period, in the upper 70s to upper 80s.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 226 PM CDT Tue May 26 2026

This afternoon-Tonight...

It's another seasonably warm day across the area with temperatures currently in the 80s, topping out around 90 degrees. Southerly winds are breezy this afternoon, gusting 20-30mph, strongest along/west of Highway 183. Winds drop off after sunset becoming light overnight as lows drop into the 50s.

Wednesday...

Aloft a cutoff low will sit over the southwestern U.S. Wednesday morning with a ridge centered over the plains, and a deepening trough over the northeast. A weak disturbance attempts to lift out of the southwest on Wednesday, but quickly gets trapped under the ridge. This disturbance will gradually shift a band of scattered showers/storms north across the Plains, reaching far southwestern portions of the area during the afternoon/evening. The band then stalls out and remains largely stationary through the overnight hours. There continues to be some spread in model guidance for where exactly this band sets up, but overall it favors areas along and southwest of a line from Cambridge, NE to Osborne, KS. Highs on Wednesday range from the mid 80s across southwest portions of the area where afternoon cloud coverage increases, to the low 90s across the northeast where sunshine dominates.

Thursday...

As the upper level blocking pattern strengthens on Thursday, the aforementioned disturbance remains trapped under the ridge. This limits/prevents much movement from the band, though model guidance indicates at least some northwards movement is possible. Again, model spread and weak flow aloft brings a fair amount of uncertainty on the position/location of rain on Thursday. The best chances favor locations along and southwest of the Tri- Cities. Multiple rounds of showers and storms are possible where the band eventually sets up. Highs on Thursday depend on cloud coverage/rain vs sun, ranging from the upper 70s (southwest) to around 90 degrees.

Friday Onwards...

The upper level pattern continues to be weak and messy through the end of the forecast period as the omega blocking pattern remains in place. A slightly stronger wave of upper level energy attempts to lift into the area this weekend as the cutoff low rejoins the jetstream. The result is another round of scattered, low confidence PoPs across the area through the end of the forecast period. Details will become clearer as we get closer, though the best chances favor western portions of the area at this time. Under the influence of ridging aloft, near to above normal temperatures are expected through the end of the forecast period (highs low-mid 80s).

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z WEDNESDAY/

Issued at 1241 PM CDT Tue May 26 2026

For KGRI/KEAR Airports:

VFR conditions expected through TAF period. Southerly winds gusting 20-25kts are expected through sunset. After sunset winds steadily decrease with gusts falling to 10kts around midnight. Winds remain light through the mid-morning hours but increase to 10kts by the end of the TAF period. FEW-SCT high level clouds are possible throughout the TAF period.

GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

NE...None. KS...None.