textproduct: Hastings

KEY MESSAGES

- Frigid temperatures and wind chills overnight into mid-morning Saturday, with sub-zero "actual" temps and wind chills bottoming out mainly -10 to -19 (a FEW spots could briefly touch -20, but areal coverage/duration of this is not expected to be great enough to justify a Cold Weather Advisory).

- A band of snow moves west-northwest to east-southeast across the area mainly Saturday afternoon-evening. Accumulations look to remain light, under 1".

- Warmer and dry weather arrives Sunday and continues next week with highs in the 40s and 50s.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 233 PM CST Fri Jan 30 2026

This afternoon-Tonight...

Snow this afternoon is currently across far southwestern portions of the area, and will continue to move southwest out of the area. Further north, skies are partly to mostly cloudy with breezy northerly winds of 20-25mph.

Skies clear and winds become light this evening as an arctic high pressure system moves over the area. Clear skies, light winds and a very cold airmass will support temperatures dropping below zero (-2 to -8 degrees) tonight/Saturday morning. Thankfully, the light winds keep wind chill values in the teens, and just shy of reaching official cold weather advisory criteria. It is possible a few isolated areas north of I-80 could reach -20 wind chills around sunrise, but temperatures are expected to increase around the time winds begin to increase.

Saturday...

After the frigid start, temperatures steadily climb throughout the morning hours as southerly flow strengthens over the area ahead of an approaching clipper system. Southerly winds gusting 20-30 MPH are expected during the late morning-evening hours, strongest along and west of Highway 281.

A band of snow lifts into western portions of the area Saturday afternoon as the clipper system moves into the Plains. The band will move west to east across the area during the afternoon and evening hours, with any lingering snow exiting eastern portions of the area by midnight. The biggest uncertainty with this band is how far south snow will precipitate/reach. Dry air near the surface could limit how much snow is able to accumulate, especially across southern/southwestern portions of the area. The highest chances to see accumulating snow will be across northern/northeastern portions of the area, closest to the surface low where forcing is the greatest. Additionally, snow falling with the aforementioned breezy winds (20-25mph) could result in a period of lower/poor visibility. Any snow that does occur looks to remain light, with accumulations of 1" or less.

Sunday...

Ridging builds over the Rockies and Plains on Sunday, bringing a welcome warmup to the area along with dry weather. Highs on Sunday will climb into the 40s and 50s, warmest across southwestern portions of the area. This should melt most if not all of the remaining snowpack across the area. Overall, Sunday looks to be a very pleasant day, especially when compared to Saturday's frigid start.

Next Week...

Ridging to northwesterly flow aloft looks to persist throughout next week, resulting in above normal temperatures across the area. Highs will be in the 40s and 50s, with lows in the 10s and 20s. Dry weather is expected next week, though a passing disturbance could bring a low chance for light precip to eastern portions of the area Tuesday night. The warmer weather looks to stick around for a while, with the CPC 6-10 and 8-14 day outlooks favoring above normal temperatures.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SUNDAY/

Issued at 1126 PM CST Fri Jan 30 2026

For KGRI/KEAR Airports:

Expecting clear skies and light/variable winds at both terminal sites the rest of tonight...with increasing cloud cover and snow chances as we get into the daytime hours. Models showing things staying pretty quiet until early-mid afternoon, when that upper level shortwave disturbance ushers in additional chances for light snowfall. Have the potential for MVFR/IFR ceilings/visibilities with this snow, addressed at this point with a PROB30 group through early evening. The remainder of the period mid-late evening remains dry. The light/variable winds through early morning will be turning SSWrly around sunrise, continuing through the remainder of the period. Speeds are expected to pick up to around 15-20 MPH around midday-afternoon, gusts near 25 MPH will also be possible through early evening.

GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

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