Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Hastings, NE
Issued by NWS Hastings, NE
Versions:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
784 FXUS63 KGID 261929 CCA AFDGID Area Forecast Discussion...CORRECTED National Weather Service Hastings NE 229 PM CDT Sat Sep 26 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Widespread fog is likely (70-90% confidence) to spread across much of the area tonight into Sunday morning. Visibilities could in many areas drop below 1 mile for several hours. - Beyond a few isolated non-severe storms east of HWY-281 this evening, the next widespread precipitation chances currently lie Monday night into Tuesday. - Highs over the next few days will gradually decrease from the 70s to low 80s Sunday, down to the mid 60s to low 70s by the end of next week. - Widespread precipitation chances are favored to bring at least 1-3" of precip to the area between Tuesday and Friday. Locally higher amounts may be possible, especially across north central Kansas. - Though confidence for mid-week precipitation is increasing, a lot of uncertainty in precipitation amounts still remains (high spread between the high and low end guidance). && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 215 PM CDT Sat Sep 26 2026 Today and Sunday... A few lingering and isolated non-severe storms east of HWY-281 this afternoon/evening is all that would be left from the upper-level trough that recently passed overtop of the area. Precipitation chances across the far eastern portions of the area remain around 20- 30% as most of the coverage area should ultimately remain dry today/tonight. This disturbance has been partially responsible for developing the widespread showers that have deposited up to 2-6" of rainfall across the majority area over the last few days. Now the pattern shifts towards a brief dry, yet cloudy period as heights/pressure rises aloft (indicating subsidence and negative vorticity advection behind the exiting trough [stabilizing features]). The next widespread precipitation chance will not come until Monday night. Tonight, temperatures will fall as low as the upper 50s to low 60s with weak (<10MPH) easterly winds. The conditions for fog look probable (70-90% confidence) tonight as temperatures will be on track to near the dewpoints (also ranging the upper 50s to low 60s). The light upslope winds should also support the fog formation, preventing fog from mixing out. The only feature that could limit the fog potential overnight would be from the overcast sky conditions. A potential thick layer of clouds overnight could act as a blanket, possibly keeping temperatures a few degrees warmer than anticipated. Despite the uncertainy, high-resolution model guidance (HREF members & RRFS) show high confidence of widespread dense fog forming across a majority of the forecast area (80% of the ensemble members), especially across the western half of the area. Given the higher than usual confidence, it seems as if the issuance of a Dense Fog Advisory may be warranted. Beyond the morning fog potential Sunday, the clouds looming around for much of the day should keep the trend of 70s to low 80s highs rolling on into Sunday. Monday through Next Week... Cloudy skies prevailing across much of the first half of the week (through Tuesday) will keep temperatures from exceeding the 70s to low 80s. Overnight lows should mainly range the 50s to mid 60s with a few upper 40s possible to sneak into northwest portions of the area by the end of the week. Highs after Tuesday are currently forecast to peak between the mid 60s to low 70s (recently trending down by a few degrees). Remnants of one of the Pacific hurricanes (Polo) will look to be stirred northeast and into the Central U.S. around the middle of next week. This system looks to bring widespread rain to the region and will greatly impact the forecast for the second half of the week. Before this system arrives, a shortwave trough ejecting out of the Rockies could bring the area`s next chance for precipitation Monday night into Tuesday. A cold front is projected to sweep by along with this wave, reinforcing the near-seasonal temperatures (low to mid 70s). Most of the precipitation Monday night into Tuesday will likely come in the form of steady uniform rain, though a few mixed in non-severe storms may still be possible. The best guess precipitation forecast range through Tuesday currently is currently 1- 1.5". The signal for precipitation looks to continue one into much of the middle of next week as moisture from the remnants of Hurricane Polo get fed northeastward and up to the Central Plains region. Given the anomalously high moisture concentration (PWAT values 1.5-1.75"), steady, persistent and occasionally heavy rain could be possible across the period Wednesday through the first half of Friday. The mean NBM QPF between Tuesday and Thursday ranges between 1.5- 2.5" of precipitation with a 25th to 75th percentile spread of 2-3" (very high spread ... high uncertainty). The 25 percentile for the area lies between 0.75-1" (75% of members exceed these values) with the 75th percentile lying between 3.5-4" (75% of the members fall below these values [25% chance of exceedance]). This high spread of uncertainty makes it hard to narrow down the forecast for now. Given the track of the system (across the Southern Plains), the greatest precipitation amounts should naturally lie towards the south and concentrated across locations closer to the system center (mainly north central Kansas). Much more details will be unraveled though the week as the system`s track and precipitation forecast windows narrow some. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY/... Issued at 1130 AM CDT Sat Sep 26 2026 For KGRI/KEAR Airports: Cloud bases are soon expected to reach low-end MVFR classifications before later lifting/scattering out back to VFR classifications by 21-0z today. Though ceilings are expected to become VFR later today, sub-VFR ceilings are likely to return overnight tonight. Ceilings will lower between 4-12z with MVFR conditions likely to prevail after 8z. IFR to LIFR ceilings will be likely between 10-15z. Other than the low ceilings this afternoon and tonight, fog is additionally expected to form tonight between 9-16z. Visibilities could drop near to below 1 mile between 10-14z. The potential for scattered storms at KEAR is <10% and <30% for KGRI (0% after 4z). Winds out of the south today near 5-15kts will gradually lightening this evening and tonight (directions becoming northeasterly). Light to variable conditions will be likely across the overnight and Sunday morning hours. && .GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NE...None. KS...None. && $$ DISCUSSION...Stump AVIATION...Stump