KEARNEY — Temperatures are set to be well above normal for Wednesday and Thursday, a cool down over the weekend will only bring temperatures back to seasonal norms.
Monday is off to a quiet start as the potent shortwave trough of low pressure that affected the area yesterday continues to move off to the east of the area. This leaves the Central Plains under fast northwest upper-level flow, per the National Weather Service – Hastings.
There will be a brief burst of cold air advection that will contribute to highs in the 40s and low 50s on Tuesday. However, it will still be a decent day by early December standards, given the light winds and partly cloudy skies.
Aloft, an upper-level ridge of high pressure will amplify over the western United States on Tuesday and then shift into the Plains on Wednesday. The result will be unseasonably warm air being moved out of the desert southwest into the region.
Wednesday will see plentiful sunshine, light winds, and highs in the upper 50s and 60s. While Thursday will be the warmest day of the week with highs areawide in the 60s. There could even be some 70s to the southwest of the Tri-Cities.
The afternoon hours on Thursday would be breezy for the far northwest counties of the NWS Hastings area as the next cold front approaches. These gusts could contribute to near critical fire weather, so take care with any burning, or refrain entirely.
The upper-level pattern looks to be more complex later in the week, with energy ejecting into the Plains in two parts, a northern wave on Thursday night and a southern wave over the weekend.
The northern wave looks to track through the Dakotas and be responsible for the initial cold front that will drop temperatures back into the 50s on Friday and then 40s for Saturday and Sunday, which is still near to above the norm.
The second, southern wave could be the one to watch for potential precipitation as it digs into the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandle region on Saturday. There is a 20 percent chance of precipitation for the weekend.
This will develop as we approach the time period, and the models get a better handle on the situation.
Day by day, Tuesday will be mostly sunny with a high near 45, winds will be out of the northwest at 5 to 15 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust to 20 mph.
Wednesday will be sunny with a high near 58, winds will be out of southwest at 10 mph. Thursday will be sunny with a high near 62. Friday will be mostly sunny with a high near 49.
Saturday will be partly sunny with a high near 42, there will be a 20 percent chance of rain and snow. Sunday will be sunny with a high near 43.
