textproduct: Hastings

KEY MESSAGES

- A Winter Weather Advisory was issued for northeastern portions of the area from 7am to 7pm today.

- High-wind (gusts near 65 MPH) remains on-track for today.

- Today through Monday will be bitterly cold, but it will not last for long. 70s and 80s return for Wed-Sat.

UPDATE

Issued at 214 AM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026

The cold front is just nudging into western Dawson County as of 2am Sunday morning. Generally, the initial surge of winds behind the front has been producing gusts ~50 MPH, but stronger gusts are expected during the daytime today. All areas have a high chance (70%+) to see gusts in excess of 60 MPH today. This ill be especially problematic for ongoing fires south/west of Gothenburg. Additionally, the winds may result in blowing dust/ash in areas downwind of the burn scars. Winds will only slowly taper off this evening into tonight...which will contribute to very cold wind chills (-5 to -15 degrees).

The bulk of accumulating snow with this system is still expected to be to our north and east, but some areas may see just enough accumulation (around 1") to have some travel troubles. The primary area of concern is along and northeast of a line from Ord to St. Paul to York. Given the warm ground temperatures, much of the snow will melt off the roadways, but crashing temperatures could lead to some slick spots...especially on bridges. Because of this, along with the potential for periods of poor visibility, a Winter Weather Advisory was issued.

Tonight will be bitterly cold. Although it will likely end up short of Cold Weather Advisory criteria (wind chills -20 or lower), it will still be the coldest morning in quite some time.

Winds will continue to diminish on Monday, and temperatures will remain in the 30s for most of the area. A strong warming trend then takes hold for Tuesday, and widespread 70s and 80s are expected by Wednesday.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 121 PM CDT Sat Mar 14 2026

Surface low pressure in Wyoming has warm front extending east/southeast into Kansas. This front has been slower than anticipated, thus keep a more southeast wind across north central Kansas and south central Nebraska. High clouds also streaming east off the front at this. The slower movement, winds and clouds and held temperatures back a bit today though Cambridge did manage to reach 70 degrees.

The warm front will make some progress north and east but may not clear the entire area, nonetheless its a mild evening for the area. Weak lift as the upper trough moves closely could trigger some spotter virga/light showers for some areas this evening though the risk for measurable precipitation is very low given the dry atmosphere. Though not in the forecast, there may even be a lightning strike northeast of Grand Island later this evening with some mid-level instability.

Honestly, the main story is the wind overnight through Sunday. Moved up the start time of the High Wind Warning to 3 AM to cover the potential gust above 55 mph along the initial cold frontal surge, which will rapidly move across the forecast area between about 2 AM and 6 AM. The winds only increase from there during the day Sunday and have actually increased wind gusts to the 65 mph range, and I wouldn't rule out a 70 mph report, especially if some more clearing can take hold. Aside from the wind, some light snow will skirt across the northern/eastern areas. Right now, snow amounts would be very light and not amount to much, but with the high winds visibility would be reduced, especially north of Nebraska Highway 92 for a time. Again, probability of even an inch of snow is very low. Skies may start to clear late Sunday afternoon from the west. If that clearing starts early, that could allow for winds to mix down even more. Also, temperatures will go nowhere Sunday and probably drop during the day. What a shock to the system.

The High Wind Warnings goes into Sunday evening, but after 9 pm winds will slowly drop off, through remain gusty through Monday morning. The main story by this time will be bitter cold wind chills overnight Sunday and early Monday, well below zero for most of south central Nebraska and north central Kansas. Temperatures do rebound a bit Monday with sunshine but will still be 15-20 degrees below normal.

The warmup starts on Tuesday.

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z MONDAY/

Issued at 200 PM CDT Sun Mar 15 2026

For KGRI/KEAR Airports: - General overview: Although especially KGRI will catch a few more hours of light snow this afternoon and associated visibility reductions, the vast majority of the period will be precipitation-free at both KGRI/KEAR. By far the primary issue (especially these first 6-12 hours) are very strong north-northwest winds, with gusts commonly 40-47KT. The secondary issue are ceilings, as although confidence is high in continued MVFR through at least these first 4-6 hours, thereafter there is increasing uncertainty whether there will be an outright-return to VFR, or perhaps intermittent MVFR that might persist through the remainder of the period.

- Ceiling/visibility/precipitation details: The last few hours of light snow for the day are occurring at KGRI with continued potential for IFR visibility through around 20-21Z (KEAR is already mostly done with snow/down to flurries at most and should stay VFR visibility). As for ceiling, high confidence in continued MVFR through at least these first 4-6 hours. However, already by 22-00Z there are question marks, with some guidance indicating either a scattering out of MVFR, OR a ceiling lifting into low-end VFR range (slightly above 3K ft. AGL). Realistically, it will probably be "mostly" VFR but with occasional/sporadic MVFR. For now, have kept prevailing MVFR through 06Z KGRI/00Z KEAR, but even beyond that have maintained a lower-VFR ceiling through 15Z...by which time even a low-VFR ceiling should start scattering out. Obviously some uncertainty here, so stay tuned for possible changes.

- Winds: High confidence forecast here. A north-northwest direction remains in place through the period. The strongest speeds of the period are right away this afternoon (sustained speeds commonly 30-35KT/gusts 45+KT). Then, this evening and overnight, a GRADUAL decreasing gets underway, with sustained speeds by around 06Z easing down to more so 20-25KT/gusts around 30KT...then by 12Z sustained around 15KT/gusts 20-25KT. By mid- late Monday morning, a slight uptick kicks in with gusts back up to around 23-27KT.

GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

NE...High Wind Warning until 9 PM CDT this evening for NEZ039>041- 046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087. Winter Weather Advisory until 7 PM CDT this evening for NEZ039>041-047>049-063-064. KS...High Wind Warning until 9 PM CDT this evening for KSZ005>007- 017>019.