901
FXUS63 KGID 220656
AFDGID

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Hastings NE
156 AM CDT Mon Jun 22 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Patchy fog may continue to develop across mainly western and
  northern portions of the area overnight into Monday morning.

- Light rain showers may develop and move across primarily
  western and northern portions of the area overnight into
  Monday morning.

- Isolated thunderstorms may move across northwestern portions
  of the area this evening into tonight.

- Showers and thunderstorms will increase across the area
  Tuesday morning and afternoon. Some of these storms may be
  strong to marginally severe.

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 153 AM CDT Mon Jun 22 2026

Rain showers are moving southeast across northern Nebraska and
severe storms are across southern Kansas and northern/central
Oklahoma. Winds across south central and central Nebraska and north
central Kansas are light out of mostly the east. Temperatures across
the area are in the 50s and 60s. Some light rain showers may move
across northern and western portions of the forecast area overnight
(primarily north of I-80 and west of Highway 281). Overnight low
temperatures are expected to be in the 50s. Some of the overnight
showers may linger into the morning hours past sunrise. Some patchy
fog has already started to develop and may continue into the morning
hours across mainly western and northern portions of the area.
Widespread dense fog is not expected at this time but will continue
to monitor. Partly to mostly cloudy skies are expected this
afternoon with winds becoming southeasterly. High temperatures today
will mostly be in the 70s. An isolated thunderstorm or two may move
across northwestern portions of the area this evening into tonight
(primarily along and north and west of the Tri-Cities area). Low
temperatures tonight will be in the 50s and low 60s.

Showers and thunderstorms are expected to increase and move in from
the north/northwest Tuesday morning into Tuesday afternoon as a
shortwave moves overhead and a cold front approaches. Some of these
storms have the potential to become strong to marginally severe with
the risk increasing to the southwest. Hail up to quarter size and
wind gusts up to 60 MPH would be the main threats with these storms.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 402 PM CDT Sun Jun 21 2026

Tonight...

Following yesterday and last night`s scattered storms, a band of low-
level stratus continues to blanket a majority of the area. This
cloud coverage has helped keep temperatures in the 60s and 70s for
today. The main concern of the day will be from the presence of a
mid-to-upper level shortwave disturbance that looms just northwest
of the area. Though some question remains on how the excessive cloud
coverage today may impact the instability, modeled soundings still
continue to show an elongated profile of weak instability through
much of the low-to-mid levels from the presence of steady lapse
rates holding between 6-7C/km (contributing to 750-2,000J/kg of
MUCAPE). In addition, a deep moist layer with 30-50kts of bulk shear
this afternoon completes the base checklist needed for storms. The
main detractor that may storms from reaching severe criteria would
be from the presence of low-level convective inhibition (stable
air) that storms would need to overcome.

Though activity may not be too widespread this afternoon/evening, a
strong to marginally severe storm could still be feasible to break
into the area from the west/northwest. A few storms, some of which
severe, have already erupted this afternoon out across western
Nebraska. These storms across the next several hours will march
southeast and down into possibly a few western portions of the area.
The main uncertainty will be how long lasting those storms will
remain severe as they march towards a slightly less favorable
environment (some question to how the cloud coverage earlier today
may of inhibited the storm environment). As result, the main severe
threat will be more concentrated closer to the west/southwest
portions of the area between the 5-10PM window. The primary storm
hazards from these storms will be hail up to the size of ping pong
balls with gusty winds near 60MPH. Though an isolated tornado could
be feasible, generally the threat remains low given the fact that
storms are expected to be on the downward trend as they arrive from
the west.

In addition to the severe storms racing in from the Nebraska
sandhills this evening, a mesolow moving down into northern Nebraska
tonight may offer up a few more weaker thunderstorms and showers.
These storms will drop down into a few northern portions of the area
overnight (mainly into a few places north of I-80). The mesolow will
gradually drift east through the morning hours on Monday, collecting
any last last remaining storm with it.


Monday and Tuesday...

Pressure rises Monday from the exit of the shortwave disturbance will
help snuff out most precipitation chances for Monday, although a
spotty or isolated shower/storm coming in from the northwest can`t
be totally ruled out. Besides the low precipitation chance, highs
will remain fairly similar from today (70s), although a few spots in
north central Kansas could overachieve expectations and reach the
low 80s. Winds will be expected to remain light (5-15MPH) under the
influence of higher pressure with wind directions out of the
southeast.

The potential for severe weather could return Tuesday as another
shortwave trough sneaks into the greater Northern Plains region.
Several medium to long range models including the NAM, ECMWF and GFS
are starting to narrow down on the conclusion for a later morning to
early afternoon MCS (Mesoscale Convective System) developing along a
southeastward passing cold front. The current projection of this
system has been mainly confined to initialize somewhere across
northwest to north central Nebraska area, moving towards the
southeast through the rest of the day. Though CAPE may be somewhat
limited across the early portions of the day (500-2,000J of MUCAPE
possible), 40-55kts of bulk shear with dewpoints in the 60s (from
the influence of the south to southeasterly surface winds), may be
supportive enough for storms to develop strong to severe criteria
(>1" hail or >58MPH wind gusts).

The SPC has included the full area in a marginal (level 1 of 5)
severe weather outlook for Tuesday with a slight risk (level 2 of 5)
clipping mainly Rooks county in our north central Kansas forecast
area. The main uncertainty at this point in time is knowing
where/when the thunderstorms fire Tuesday. Depending on the speed of
the front and the time of day that storms initialize, the severe
risk could change. Otherwise, highs are expected to remain in the
70s to low 80s as some sort of cloud coverage is possible to remain
around a majority of the area (keeping the potential for widespread
coverage of 80+ degree temperatures low).


Wednesday and Beyond...

The potential for a pop up or scattered thunderstorm/showers returns
almost every day in the long-range forecast, although the best
potential lies Wednesday night (30-60% chances) and Thursday night
(40-60% chances). This seamanly wet period comes as an upper-level
low across southwest Canada interacts with a southwest U.S. ridge.
Numerous break/disturbance will break out of the upper-level flow,
keeping the area underneath sporadic storm activity. Widening
forecast confidence past Tuesday keeps detail limited for now for
any specific individual day.

As far as temperatures go, the general trend is for highs to climb
again, potentially reaching the 90s in a few areas by the end of the
week. It is uncertain how the upper-level flow will break out of its
more unstable pattern, though long-range ensemble forecasts tend to
favor the exit of the low pressure over Canada around the middle of
the week. This would leave some space for the southwest U.S. ridge
build, potentially influencing a end of week warm up.

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z TUESDAY/...
Issued at 1234 AM CDT Mon Jun 22 2026

For KGRI/KEAR Airports:

IFR ceilings favored to persist at KEAR through mid- morning.
MVFR-IFR ceilings possible at KGRI during around 09-16z. Briefly
MVFR Visibility possible at KEAR through at least 09z.

An IFR-MVFR stratus deck is building over KEAR, resulting in IFR
conditions. Over time, MVFR ceilings will develop over KGRI.
Model guidance favors IFR Ceilings remaining west of KGRI,
though can`t rule out a brief drop to IFR. Have included a TEMPO
group at KGRI to account for this potential. MVFR-IFR stratus is
favored to rise during the mid-late morning hours, first at
KGRI then at KEAR. There is some uncertainty on how fast this
transition to VFR occurs, but recent model guidance favors a
faster transition so the timing of VFR was sped up. Once
Ceilings become VFR late Monday morning/early afternoon, they
are expected to prevail through the end of the TAF period.

Winds will be light and east-southeasterly overnight, becoming
southeasterly after sunrise and increasing to 8-10kts during the
afternoon.

&&

.GID WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NE...None.
KS...None.

&&

$$

UPDATE...Schuldt
DISCUSSION...Stump
AVIATION...Davis