textproduct: Hastings

KEY MESSAGES

- Very windy conditions are expected Friday with sustained speeds 30-40 mph and gusts as high as 40-60 mph. A High Wind Watch continues for roughly the northwest 1/3 of our forecast area...which is most likely to see gusts reach 55-60 MPH.

- Near critical to critical fire weather conditions are possible Thursday through Sunday. Friday and Saturday have the highest concern.

- Colder air is expected this weekend. Wind chills of near or below zero are expected each night Friday night through Sunday night...with mainly some of our Nebraska counties seeing wind chills down around -10 Fri night-Sat AM and Sat night-Sun AM

- Light snow is possible (15% to near 30% chance) Friday through Friday night mainly north and northeast of the Tri-Cities. The snow with the strong winds may lead to reduced visibilities.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 253 PM CST Wed Jan 14 2026

Today and tonight...

An upper trough is over the eastern 1/2 to 2/3 of the country with an upper ridge over the western part of the country. Northerly winds are across south central and central Nebraska and north central Kansas. Winds will continue to decrease this afternoon and will be around 5 to 10 mph early this evening out of the north. Temperatures are ranging from the low 30s to the mid 40s and winds are making the temperatures (wind chills) feel like the low 20s to mid 30s. Winds will transition to the south to west tonight with low temperatures dropping into the low to mid 20s.

Thursday and Thursday night...

The upper trough will move further east on Thursday with another upper trough right behind it moving over the northern Plains/upper Midwest. A surface trough will be present across south central and central Nebraska and north central Kansas on Thursday in advance of the secondary upper trough. This will contribute to temperatures on Thursday warming up into the low 50s to low 60s. Winds will transition from the south and west to the northwest on Thursday with winds gusting up to 20 to 40 mph during the afternoon. Temperatures Thursday night are expected to drop to the mid 20s to low 30s. However, with winds strengthening, wind chills will be in the single digits to upper teens Thursday night.

Friday and Friday night...

The trough over the northern Plains will dig further south on Friday and will be over Nebraska and Kansas. Colder air is expected to move into the area on Friday accompanied by gusty, northwest winds. High temperatures on Friday are expected to be in the mid 30s to low 40s but with wind chills in the teens to low 30s during the afternoon. Sustained winds on Friday will be around 25 to near 40 mph with gusts of 40 to 60 mph possible. A High Wind Watch is in effect Friday along and northwest of a line from St. Paul to Kearney to Beaver City. Light snow showers are possible (15% to 30% chance) on Friday mainly north and northeast of the Tri-Cities. There are some model differences in regards to the timing of these light snow showers. One model is indicating light snow Thursday evening and night while another is indicating Friday and yet another Friday night into Saturday. Temperatures are expected to drop into the single digits to the low 20s Friday night with wind chills ranging from around -15 to the positive single digits.

Saturday and Saturday night...

The cold air will continue on Saturday with a surface high across the area and gusty, northerly winds. Saturday will be the coldest day of the forecast with high temperatures in the teens to around freezing. Wind chills during the afternoon will range from around 0 to around 20 degrees. Temperatures Saturday night are expected to plummet to the low single digits to around 12 degrees. Wind chills Saturday night will range from around 0 to around/slightly below -10 degrees.

Sunday through Tuesday...

A brief warm up (into the 40s for most areas) is expected on Sunday with a surface trough developing in advance of the next cold front. This front will push into the area by Sunday evening with gusty, northerly winds. The colder air with persist through Monday with highs in the 20s and 30s. A bit of a warm up is expected on Tuesday with south to west winds returning to the area. The amount of warming is uncertain with models producing a wide range of high temperatures for Tuesday.

AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 1102 PM CST Wed Jan 14 2026

For KGRI/KEAR Airports: - General overview: Overall-high confidence in VFR ceiling/visibility throughout the period, and also rain-free weather through at least the vast majority of it. Certainly the main concern of the period will be moderately-windy conditions through most of Thursday afternoon- evening (gusts 25-30KT likely).

- Ceiling/precipitation details: The majority of the period will feature only varying degrees of mid-high level clouds mainly at/above 15K feet. However, right out of the gate very early Thursday morning there could be some very brief "random" patches of lower VFR clouds based around 3,500 ft. AGL. Late in the period Thursday evening, another batch of lower-VFR clouds mainly based at/above 4K ft. will likely invade from the north, and might even be accompanied by brief sprinkles/brief rain shower. However confidence in this minor precipitation chance occurring is currently too low for TAF inclusion.

- Wind details: By far the lightest winds of the period will be right away early Thursday morning...generally south-southwesterly 5-10KT. However, speeds will steadily ramp up between late morning and early afternoon as a cold front approaches and passes through. As the front approaches winds will turn westerly but then soon northwesterly...with peak speeds focusing 19-23Z (generally sustained around 20KT/gusts 25-30KT). Following somewhat of a lull in speeds centered 00-04Z, speeds will again ramp up very late in the period (mainly after 04Z), again gusting at least 25-30KT.

Also wind-related, some marginally-strong low level wind shear (LLWS) could develop at a different junctures in the period (mainly during brief "disconnects" between stronger winds within the lowest 1-2K ft. AGL and when surface winds are a bit weaker). The two main time frames for this currently look to focus 16-18Z and then perhaps again 23-03z. However, both of these potential rounds of LLWS currently look a bit too weak/uncertain for formal TAF inclusion (something to watch though).

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 253 PM CST Wed Jan 14 2026

- AT LEAST NEAR-CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ON MANY UPCOMING DAYS:

- Thursday: Near critical fire weather conditions are expected, mainly from Dawson to Furnas Counties and Phillips and Rooks Counties. Relative humidity values across western portions of these counties are expected to get down to around 25% with wind gusts up to around 25 to 35 mph.

- Friday: Near critical fire weather is expected Friday across the same areas as Thursday plus portions of Smith and Osborne Counties. Minimum humidity values are expected to be around 25% in these areas with wind gusts of 40 to 55 mph.

- Saturday-Sunday: Humidity values across the same general areas described for Friday are expected to drop to around 15% to 25% on Saturday. Wind gusts in these areas will be around 25 to 35 mph Saturday afternoon which will lead to possible near critical to critical fire weather conditions. Humidity values will improve some on Sunday, but the above mentioned areas may still get down to around 25% with wind gusts around 20 to 30 mph.

Humidity and winds will improve on Monday so fire weather is not expected to be a concern at this time.

GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

NE...High Wind Watch from Friday morning through Friday afternoon for NEZ039-040-046-047-060-061-072-073-082. KS...None.