textproduct: Hastings

KEY MESSAGES

- Though overnight lows should remain mostly above freezing (beyond a few northwest portions of the area), areas of patchy frost may be possible to form across mainly a few low- lying areas tonight.

- Near-critical to critical fire weather conditions return each day through the week. The overall worst conditions lie Monday and Thursday. Pleases refer to the fire weather section for more information.

- Highs will remain in the upper 70s and 80s through Thursday before a cold front knocks highs down for next weekend (upper 50s and 60s).

- A few weak precipitation chances (10-40%) lie Wednesday night, Thursday night and Saturday. Precipitation coverage currently looks to be fairly limited in coverage (amounts <0.25").

DISCUSSION

Issued at 237 PM CDT Sun Apr 19 2026

Clear skies today with light winds out of the northeast have allowed temperatures to warm up into the mid 60s and 70s (around 10-15 degrees warmer from Saturday). Despite the warming today, temperatures overnight may still near and dip just below freezing in a few northwest portions of the area. This should be the last night of freezing temperatures until at least Thursday night. A few patchy areas of frost may additionally be possible to form tonight given the light winds. The best overall potential will be for low lying areas and for areas more concentrated to the northwest (where the cooler temperatures lie).

Aloft, a building ridge out west will gradually move in across the Central U.S. through the first half of the week. Subsidence (sinking air) underneath the ridge will lead to compressional warming. As result, temperatures Monday through Thursday will mainly reach the mid 70s to 80s each afternoon, peaking in the mid 80s to low 90s on Tuesday.

As for as winds go, higher pressure slipping by to the east on Monday will steer southerly winds for Monday. Given the ongoing dry conditions, widespread near-critical with a few isolated critical fire weather concerns may be possible. Though the issuance of a Red Flag Warning was forgone this forecast cycle, if confidence of gusty winds in exceedance of 25MPH increases, the next shift may consider to issue. For more information regarding the fire weather potential for this week, pleases refer to the fore weather section below.

A deepening surface low centered over Montana on Wednesday will race east across the Northern Plains on Thursday. This system will be propelled by an upper level trough that will shake things up for the end of the week. A period of strong winds looks likely to arise Wednesday through Friday afternoon. Southerly winds Wednesday are currently favored to gust as high as 35-40MPH with west/northwesterly gusts up to 25-30MPH Thursday and northerly gusts up to 25-35MPH Friday. Given the gusty winds, fire weather concerns are possible to return each day with the bet confidence (driest day) on Thursday. Please refer to the fire weather section for more information.

As for the precipitation potential this weekend, confidence for scattered storms have gone down some for Wednesday and Thursday night (10-40% chance) with the better overall potential residing outside the area to the north and east. Though most places are forecast to remain dry through the period, a handful of places north of the interstate or east of HWY-281 could still be in line for an isolated storm or two.

A cold frontal passage on Thursday will not only shift the winds from the south to a northwesterly direction, but will also pull in a colder air mass. Highs as result will knock down to the upper 50s and 60s for next weekend.

AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY/

Issued at 635 PM CDT Sun Apr 19 2026

For KGRI/KEAR Airports:

VFR conditions are expected for the next 24 hours. Winds will change from the east northeast to the south with gusts up to around 20 knots Monday afternoon.

FIRE WEATHER

Issued at 237 PM CDT Sun Apr 19 2026

Monday:

Temperatures in the upper 70s to mid 80s Monday afternoon with dewpoints in the 20s to mid 30s will leave minimum afternoon relative humidity values as low as 10-25%. The driest conditions will be concentrated towards the west. Though the RH values for Monday will fall well into critical fire weather levels (<20%), there is some question in weather wind speeds will reach critical speeds (>25 MPH). Higher pressure to the east and lower presure to the west will leave wind directions out of the south for the day. Wind speeds of 10-20MPH may occasionally gust as high as 25MPH. The gustiest winds (locations that will have the best potential to surpass 25MPH) will be for areas north of the Interstate or south of the state line. If the confidence in widespread wind gusts in exceedance of 25MPH continues to increase, a Red Flag Warning may need to be considered in later forecast issuances.

Tuesday:

Slightly warmer temperatures Tuesday (mid to upper 80s) with dewpoints in the 30s to low 50s will let afternoon RH values drop to as low as 10-30% (driest conditions to the northwest). Though critical RH values will spread across the northwest half of the area, lighter winds (mainly gusting less than 20MPH) will overall limit the fire weather potential for the day. A few near-critical fire weather conditions may be met in isolated places (not likely widespread).

Wednesday-Friday:

The Fire Weather potential will begin to ramp back up Wednesday through Friday with the overall worst conditions expected Thursday. A low pressure center passing through the Northern Plains Thursday will set up southerly winds gusting up to 30-40MPH Wednesday, west/northwesterly winds gusting up to 25-30MPH Thursday and northerly winds gusting up to 25-35MPH Friday. Though a few details can change between now Wednesday, the gusty winds look to be well strong enough as it stands to support near-criritcal and critical fore weather conditions. The main concern will be if the relative humidity achieves.

Temperatures starting in the upper 70s to upper 80s Wednesday and Thursday will drop down to the low to mid 60s Friday following the passage of a cold front. Drier air behind the front will tank dewpoints from the upper 40s and 50s Wednesday to the upper teens and 20s Friday. RH values may be more on the marginal side Wednesday (18-40%) due to the higher dewpoints. The overall driest conditions for the period and likely worst fire weather conditions look to settle Thursday as the warmer temperatures stick around one last day with dewpoints steadily falling. Afternoon minimum RH values are forecast to fall as low as 10-25% Thursday. Friday's conditions will be more separated as lowering temperatures and dewpoints will keep RH values between 15-30%. The driest places Friday will lie across the western half of the area. Places west of HWY-281 will have the best chance to see critical fire-weather conditions met. Regardless of critical conditions, widespread near-criritical fire weather concerns will be possible each day between Wednesday and Friday.

GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

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