National Weather Service - Hastings Office, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
HASTINGS — Wind gusts up to 50 mph are expected across much of central Nebraska during the morning and afternoon of Thursday, Dec. 18.
A cold front will move through the region on Thursday and the strengthening pressure gradient will lead to peak wind gusts of 50-55 mph, along and north of the state line, according to the National Weather Service – Hastings.
The strongest wind gusts look to occur around 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. There could be blowing dust due to the recent lack of moisture prior to the arrival of the winds.
There could be scattered gusts around 60 mph, which would meet a High Wind Warning criteria. However, NWS Hastings notes its still too early for an official watch being 48 hours away.
There appears to be enough cold air advection to keep humidity amounts from reaching critical fire weather conditions. However, relative humidity in the 20s combined with the strong winds could still lead to a threat of fires quickly spreading if any occur.
In the long term, there appears to be few chances for appreciable moisture through the end of the month.
“Ensembles are also consistently mild and warm through the end of the month, which is hard to argue with given aforementioned lack of potential to put down any meaningful snowpack,” per NWS Hastings.
