textproduct: Hastings

KEY MESSAGES

- A spectacular finish to the work week with highs in the 60s and 70s along with mostly sunny skies and modest northwesterly breezes.

- Due to the warm temperatures, a dry airmass, and modest northwesterly breezes, near critical fire weather concerns are anticipated across much of the local area this afternoon, with the worst conditions expected north of I-80.

- While slightly cooler air will begin to filter in across the region Saturday, a return to more seasonal temperatures along with a chance for some precipitation returns Sunday.

- A light snow/wintry mix may result in some minor impacts on Sunday, particularly for areas along and east of Highway 281, with additional off and on small chances for precip anticipated for much of next week.

UPDATE

Issued at 223 AM CST Fri Feb 27 2026

Mostly clear skies and mild temperatures persisted across the local area overnight. Some wispy high clouds can be seen on satellite north of the local area early this morning, with mostly sunny skies anticipated locally through the afternoon hours.

Give the mild start to the day, expect temperatures to rapidly climb into the 60s by midday, with widespread 70s anticipated south of I-80. These warm temperatures will help minimum relative humidity values plummet, which combined with northwest winds gusting to near 25 mph, especially north of I-80, will result in near-critical fire weather concerns for at least a few hours this afternoon. While the sustained winds are a bit questionable for truly critical fire weather concerns, mixing to near 850 mb should allow for some gusts of 20 to 25 mph during the afternoon hours.

Modestly cooler air will then begin to filter in across the local area from the north overnight tonight...resulting in a slight cooldown Saturday followed by a more significant cooldown behind a cold front Sunday and Monday. In addition...this will mark the start of a more unsettled weather pattern, with precipitation chances returning Sunday afternoon. Forecast soundings suggest there will be a chance for a wintry mix of precipitation across parts of the local area, with the best chance for any (up to 1") of snow accumulation possible from roughly the 281 corridor east/southeastward - although model agreement in the exact location for the best chance for precipitation is a bit uncertain.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 430 PM CST Thu Feb 26 2026

Outside of it being breezy, in spots, can't ask for much nicer weather for late February as temperatures are in the 60s area wide, amidst plentiful sunshine. We are hitting near critical to even borderline critical conditions at a few spots this afternoon, but this should be short-lived.

Very pleasant and even warmer conditions are expected on Friday, with more of the area rising into the 70s. Even better is that winds are forecast to actually weaken through the daytime hours and be only 5-15 MPH during the afternoon.

We'll begin to see some larger scale pattern changes commence on on Saturday. A cold front will back into the area and keep NE zones stuck in the 40s. S/SW zones should still warm nicely into the lower 60s. As with any daytime frontal passage and increasing cold air advection there's going to be a risk of a forecast temperature "bust". Should remain dry one more day, though, and sun will help offset the cooler temps.

The next chance for precipitation arrives on Sunday. We will be on the northern periphery of this system, which almost always begs the question of how much will dry air eat away at the northern extent of the main QPF shield. Wave also appears to remain fairly open and quick-hitting. Guidance has shown some decent run-to-run consistency that SE quarter of the CWA has the highest chances for moisture. Thermodynamic profiles suggest it could be a mixed bag for precip types - so pinning down specific impacts is tough. At any rate, with us being on the edge of an open-wave system and having some dry air to deal with makes me think overall amounts of whatever precip type will remain on the light side. Temps will remain chilly into Monday.

A series of waves will traverse the region off and on through the middle of next week, keeping nearly daily precip chances in the forecast. Confidence on details remains very low at this time. For now, ensembles keep most of these systems on the weaker/lighter/quick-hitting side of things, but this could change. Temperatures are favored to be in the 40s to lower 50s, but these could also change depending on the magnitude of the disturbances.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 459 AM CST Fri Feb 27 2026

For KGRI/KEAR Airports:

High confidence VFR conditions through the period.

Mostly clear skies and good VSBYS expected across the area through the period. Some very marginal LLWS is evident on VWP this morning...and should diminish over the next hour or two. Generally westerly winds this morning will gradually shift and become northwesterly this afternoon...with a gust or two to near 20 KTS not out of the question. Some marginal LLWS may develop again late tonight...likely around 28/09Z...but did not include a mention in 12Z TAFS as confidence is marginal. Little to no cloud cover anticipated through the period.

GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

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