NWS Hastings, Courtesy
KEARNEY — The area is likely to some form of a White Christmas, but that will come with the associated travel impacts as people hit the road for the holiday.
According to the National Weather Service – Hastings, precipitation will start as rain Saturday night into Sunday, Christmas Eve, morning.
“Precipitation chances increase across the whole area Saturday evening and night with chances ranging from around 50 to nearly 100 percent. Most of the precipitation should be in the form of rain. This
increase in precipitation will be a result of the upper trough beginning to move over Nebraska and Kansas,” NWS Hastings states.
The areas mainly north and west of the Tri-Cities will begin to transition to snow late Saturday night as temperatures drop to near or below freezing.
“A cold front with gusty north winds will push into the area on Sunday. High temperatures on Sunday are expected to range from the low 40s to upper 50s. Precipitation chances are expected to decrease some Sunday afternoon ranging from 40 to 80 percent,” NWS Hastings notes.
Snow may start in the Tri-Cities area Sunday afternoon as temperatures drop to near freezing, but little to no accumulation is expected through Sunday afternoon.
“The temperatures along with the gusty winds will likely result in wind chills ranging from near zero degrees to around 15 degrees late Sunday night into Monday morning,” NWS Hastings states.
Precipitation chances will be the highest across the eastern portion of the forecast area on Monday with chances ranging from 30 to near 74 percent. Precipitation is expected to be in the form of snow on Monday afternoon.
Amounts and impacts are still uncertain and will depend heavily on the exact track of the storm system.
“Precipitation will continue across the area through Tuesday with chances ranging from near 30 percent across north central Kansas to near 65 percent near Columbus. Temperatures on Tuesday will warm up slightly from the previous day with highs in the 30s and 40s,” per NWS Hastings.
