textproduct: Hastings

KEY MESSAGES

- A few areas of fog may be possible to form this morning and possibly again tonight. The best fog potential should generally stay north of I-80 or west of HWY-183.

- Following the passage of last nights cold front, temperatures will range the mid 40s to mid 50s today and the 40s for the period Friday through Sunday.

- Though precipitation chances for Sunday have decreased some, up to 25-50% chance of precipitation remains across our north central Kansas areas.

- Next week (Monday-Wednesday) highs are favored to keep in the 50s to low 60s.

UPDATE

Issued at 248 AM CST Thu Nov 12 2026

A cold front is currently in the process of passing from northeast to southwest across central Nebraska and north central Kansas this morning. This front will play a pivotal role with cooling temperatures heading into the weekend. Highs today will be favored to peak in the mid to upper 40s for areas along, north and east of the Tri-Cities (around 20 degrees cooler from yesterday). For portions of the area west or south of the Tri-Cities, highs are expected to settle within the upper 40s to mid 50s (locations where the front will reach last). As for the winds, light to steady 5-15 mph sustained winds out of the northeast may occasionally gust as high as 20 mph this afternoon. Surface presure rising behind the front will gradually help to bend wind directions to the southeast overnight. Temperatures beyond today will be expected to peak each day in the 40s through the weekend. Steady winds starting friday (5- 15 mph) will maintain a south to southeasterly orientation through the weekend as well.

Given the cooler temperatures (closer to dewpoints) with weak easterly winds this morning and overnight tonight, a few patches of fog may be possible to form, primarily across northwest portions of the area. As of early this morning, a few patches of fog have already started to condense across a few northeast portions of Nebraska. Most high-res models (HRRR, RRFS & REFS) show this patch of fog slowly meandering west/southwest through the remainder of the morning alongside the front. It is also important to note that all of these models keep the most significant visibility reductions (<1 mile visibility) well north of I-80. As for the fog potential for tonight, the greatest area of concern will mainly reside just north and west of the area (mainly across western Nebraska). Though some patches of fog may creep south and east into the area, the probability for widespread dense fog appears more unlikely at this time (20% chance).

Taking a glance at the pattern aloft, an omega blocking pattern (high pressure centered over the Rockies being squeezed inbetween lower pressure centered across the Great Lakes Region and the Pacific Coast) is just now starting to form. This pattern should prevail across the area for the next few days before a shortwave across the southern Pacific coast eventually breaks out and away from the longwave blocking pattern early next week (Sunday/Monday). The latest global model trends (ECMWF/GFS) has kept the track of this disturbance confined to the Southern Plains, likely dampening any hopes for widespread precipitation for Sunday, especially north of the Kansas/Nebraska state line. Precipitation chances for Sunday have generally fallen to 10-25% north of the state line and down to 25-05% across north central Kansas.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 140 PM CST Wed Nov 11 2026

A breezy and mild afternoon continues across the local area as an amplified area of high pressure across the intermountain west extends north into the Canadian provinces and a trough of low pressure extends south into the Great Lakes region. Tonight, expect a backdoor cold front to our northeast to begin to slide south across the local area, bringing a return to below normal temperatures for the next several days. Could see some increased stratus with this front Thursday morning, along with some patchy fog development just ahead of the front, but the better chance for any widespread dense fog development appears to be to our west where the HRRR is focusing this potential.

Cooler air will then settle in across the local area during the day Thursday, with afternoon temperatures struggling to reach 50 across the majority of our Nebraska coverage area, with some lower 50s possible across mainly north central Kansas Thursday afternoon. This will be noticably cooler than the past few days, albeit very close to climatology which is in the lower 50s across the majority of the local area. Continued cold air advection will keep temperatures even cooler to end the week and through the upcoming weekend, with very few if any temperatures topping out in the 50s anticipated. With clear skies and light winds, Friday morning will be the coolest morning of the fall, thus far, with widespread low temperatures in the lower to mid-20s.

Late in the weekend...expect an upper level disturbance to undercut the upper level ridge to our west and cross the southern plains Saturday night through Sunday. Despite cooler air being in place, this looks like a cold rain event as 850MB temps will be 2-4C making the potential for any snow mixed in unlikely.

Modestly warmer temps will then build across the local area for the first part of next week as heights aloft begin to rise as a trough of low pressure digs across the west coast. This system will then bring a chance of precip back to the entire area by the middle of next week and looks to start a more active period of weather with multiple systems potentially bringing additional precip chances just beyond the current 7 day forecast period.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 516 AM CST Thu Nov 12 2026

For KGRI/KEAR Airports:

Some low-level stratus has developed early this morning across much of north central and northeastern Nebraska. This band of low-level clouds will gradually drift south and west across the rest of the morning hours and possibly into the early afternoon (scattering clouds expected between 18-0z). Though cloud bases in some locations may briefly fall as low as 500ft, most areas should observe mainly MVFR classed ceilings around 2,000ft. No reductions of visibility is expected at this time with the best potential for fog lying northwest of KEAR/KGRI. The best potential for sub VFR ceiling will fall between 14-20z for KGRI and between 15-20z for KEAR.

As for winds, though speeds will remain light through much of the day (mainly less than 10kts and gusting less than 15-20kts), variable wind direction jumping between the north and east may be observed. The currently northerly winds this morning should become northeasterly for much of the day following the passage of a cold front between 13-16z this morning. Winds overnight will be likely to lighten with directions settling out of the east.

GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

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