textproduct: Hastings

KEY MESSAGES

- Much colder today, especially for the SW half of the forecast area, with perhaps some areas of flurries.

- Light snow (T-0.5") is possible tonight into Saturday morning, mainly northeast of the Nebraska Tri-Cities.

- Very cold this weekend with high temperatures likely not climbing above freezing (possibly not out of the 20s) with widespread morning wind chills below zero Sunday morning.

- Dry and Mild conditions expected for at least the first half of next week (mostly 50s to near 60 at times).

UPDATE

Issued at 455 AM CST Fri Dec 12 2025

Main change to the short term forecast was to add some flurries for central and northern portions of the area during the day today. Already seeing quite a few streaks of light returns on the regional radar mosaic early this morning, and think this will continue off and on much of the day. However, forecast soundings continue to show some dry air in the 5-10K ft AGL layer...and even where there IS saturation, the temperatures in this layer are not all that supportive of ice crystal growth. Should see enough mixing in the boundary layer to mix cloud bases high enough to preclude a drizzle/freezing drizzle threat, as well. Bottom line, don't be surprised if there's radar returns streaking through mainly Nebraska zones off and on today, but much of this will struggle to reach the ground, and if it does, expect it to remain too light to produce impacts.

A more organized swath of lift and accumulating snow will streak through the northern Plains into the Mid Mo. Valley tonight into Saturday. No major changes with this aspect of the forecast as guidance remains fairly tightly clustered keeping any 1"+ amounts just N-NE of the forecast area. Still could see a light dusting for areas from around Greeley to Fullerton and Columbus, but probabilities for >1" remain further NE from around O'Neill to Norfolk and Omaha. For the rest of the area, will need to monitor the potential for the low levels to saturate deep enough to present a risk for drizzle and/or freezing drizzle (depending on timing/location) Sat AM into the afternoon. For now, appears the moist layer will be too shallow, but something we need to keep an eye on. Models can sometimes struggle to resolve these layers (NAM too moist, GFS too dry).

Temperature wise...going to be much colder next few days. Southern and western areas that warmed nicely yesterday (well into the 60s!) will only warm into the upper 30s to lower 40s today. Areas from GRI, N and E, will only rise into low to mid 30s...really not far off from where we are now...thanks to northerly breeze and persistent cloud cover.

The remainder of the forecast, including the surge of bitter cold air Saturday night into Sunday, appears largely on track...as does the warming trend by the middle of next week. Prospects for organized precipitation continue to look quite low for at least the next week, or so.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 140 PM CST Thu Dec 11 2025

Quite the gradient in temperatures across the local area this afternoon with 3 PM temperatures in the lower 70s in both Phillipsburg and Cambridge, with upper 30s to lower 40s being observed across much of the eastern half of the area. Still hopeful that temperatures will peak closer to 60 along the highway 281 corridor by 5 PM, but less hopeful the further east you go and did an adjustment to temperatures earlier in the shift to reflect this. Part of the reason temperatures have struggled has been the persistent cloud cover in northwestelry flow aloft along with a slower than anticipated switchover to westerly flow behind this mornings warm front.

For tonight, expect a cold front to our north to begin to sag south towards the local area, likely reaching the center of the forecast area around midnight. This front will help to shift winds back to the north by daybreak Friday, along with bringing a fairly significant deck of low level stratus to around the NE/KS state line. This will result in a noticably cooler day for most, with even colder air coming with a secondary front Friday night through Saturday morning. This front will also have the potential to produce some very light snow or flurries, but all signs are that this activity should remain northeast of the Tri-cities where a T-0.5" of snowfall will be possible.

As this secondary push of colder air reaches the area Saturday, expect a cold day as temperatures will struggle to climb much Saturday afternoon, possibly not climbing out of the teens in spots (20s for most). In addition, temperatures will likely plummet Saturday night, with a very cold start of the day Sunday morning and widespread wind chill values below zero. This notable drop in temperatures will be brief, however, as the cold air will retreat to the east by Monday afternoon, and high pressure begins to amplify across the local area aloft. This will allow temperatures to return to the 50s across much of the area (with some 60s not out of the question) for the first half of the week, before the upper level ridge starts to flatten late in the week, potentially bringing another cold front and dip in temperatures back closer to normal Thursday and Friday.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 545 AM CST Fri Dec 12 2025

For KGRI/KEAR Airports:

At least MVFR conditions are expected for much of the period, and may even dip into IFR at times this morning. Can't rule out some flurries from time to time today, but not enough confidence or impacts to include at this time. Winds will be NNW to NNE today, then veer to NE to E tonight, with speeds generally 5-10 kt. Confidence: Medium to high.

GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

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