Station Digest and Hastings Community Profile

FORECAST AREA: NWS Hastings is responsible for issuing watches, warnings, and forecasts for 24 counties in south central Nebraska and 6 counties in north central Kansas (our County Warning Area). This is a land of crops, cows, and trains. The busiest rail yard in the world is located in North Platte, just west of our forecast area. All 30 counties are exclusively dedicated to agriculture. The middle third of the forecast area is dominated by fields of corn, soybeans, and hay, roughly from the Platte River Valley south to near the Kansas border. The northern and southern thirds of the forecast area are mainly range land for cattle, but cattle are regular fixtures on the landscape everywhere. There are many feedlots and some of them are very large. Some wheat and sorghum (milo) fields exist over the southern third as well. The Platte River valley is very flat, but gently rolling hills exist just a 15 to 30 minute drive to the north or south. Small gullies, resembling small canyons, develop over the southwest quarter of the area. The three largest cities are Grand Island, Kearney, and Hastings (referred to as the Tri-Cities of south central Nebraska). They are within a 25 to 60 minute drive of each other. There are approximately 300,000 people in the WFO Hastings forecast area. One-third of those people live in the Tri-Cities.

Before the NWS modernization in the 1990s, the office was located at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport in Grand Island, but it is now located about 4 miles north of the center of Hastings. The WSR-88D radar is not collocated with the office, but is 20 miles to the south in Blue Hill.

OFFICE ACTIVITIES: Like all NWS offices, it is staffed around the clock, every day of the year, to protect lives and property and enhance the national economy. Aviation/Terminal Forecasts are provided for the Grand Island and Kearney regional airports. Fire weather forecasts are issued which provide fire management officials with specific information for fire suppression and management. We broadcast weather information around the clock on NOAA Weather Radio transmitters located near Giltner, Atlanta, Cambridge, Ord, Lexington, and Superior in Nebraska, and one in Kirwin, Kansas. The office is active on area Local Emergency Planning Committees and regularly meets or coordinates with FEMA Region VII, state and local emergency management agencies, the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Kansas Forest Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Nebraska Department of Transportation, and with the Grand Island Air Traffic Control Tower. The office is part of the High Plains Chapter of the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association, which includes the North Platte, Dodge City, and Goodland WFOs as well. Every four years, WFO Hastings hosts the annual conference.

Like all other NWS offices, there is an active outreach program which includes coordinating the public safety partners, interacting with broadcast and print media, and educating via Skywarn training classes. The office also is invited to talk at schools and other community groups.

The largest annual event in the forecast area is the Nebraska State Fair, which is in Grand Island. Each year, more than 350,000 people attend the fair. NWS Hastings has an exhibit each year and also provides on-site decision support in the emergency operations center for the outdoor concerts. The office also provides weather-driven and event-driven decision support service to emergency management partners for dozens of other events, such as fairs, rodeos and festivals, to ensure the safety of everyone who could be exposed to hazardous weather.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION:  The population of Hastings is 24,907 and the population of Adams County is 31,364.  The population has held fairly steady since 1970. Here are some other statistics from the 2010 Census.

Small industry is the primary employer, with Thermo King, Dutton-Lainson, Nebraska Prime, and T-L Irrigation among the larger employers. Mary Lanning Hospital provides a full complement of health care with 183 beds and nearly 1,000 employees. Good Samaritan Village, a large retirement community with several hundred residents, offers comprehensive care and independent living for seniors. There are 29 churches of most denominations within the city limits, and there is a modest selection of fast food and local restaurants in Hastings.

Hastings is about 25 minutes south of Grand Island, which is the largest city in the area with a population near 50,000, and 68,000 in the greater Grand Island area. Grand Island features the best dining and shopping in the Tri-Cities, followed by Kearney, which is a 60-minute drive from Hastings. If you can't find something in Hastings, you can probably find it in Grand Island or Kearney.

CLIMATE: The area experiences all four seasons. Summers tend to be long and winters are fairly short. Nice weather can occur from April all the way into November. Summers are very warm to hot, and they are humid, even when cooler temperatures make temporary intrusions. Summers are fairly dry with infrequent thunderstorms. Winters are moderately cold with a few minor snow events along with an occasional ferocious blizzard. This is a very sunny climate; it is difficult to get completely cloudy days. They do occur, but they are the exception. The cool season (October through March) is windy and it can be very windy at times. There are large swings in temperatures from September through April, mainly due to intrusions Arctic air alternating with downslope-warmed air from the Rockies. Each winter usually offers a few days with a temporary taste of spring, when highs are in the 50s and 60s. The majority of the rain falls in the May and June, and tornadoes, flash flooding, and extremely large hail are an occasional threat. In May 2005, two to three inch hailstones pummeled Hastings, breaking windows and damaging the roofs and siding on hundreds of homes and buildings. July is the hottest month of the year, with daytime highs averaging 88°, but temperatures in the 90s can occur anytime between May and September. They can even occur in October. January is the coldest month with highs averaging 34° and lows around 12°. The area averages about 25 inches of snow each year, and about 26 inches of precipitation. 

RECREATION:  Recreational facilities of most types are available. There are 20 public parks and recreation facilities including Lake Hastings on the city's north edge. The YMCA is available for fitness training and includes an indoor pool. The city has two movie theaters, a symphony orchestra, and many cultural, music, and art activities sponsored by Hastings College. The Hastings Museum is a very nice facility which houses a planetarium and a theatre with a giant 65 ft wide screen capable of 3D. Hastings is home to a $6 million dollar softball complex that hosts local leagues as well as regional, state and even national tournaments. The Nebraska Softball Hall of Fame is co-located with the Smith Softball Complex. There are three golf courses in Hastings, one of which is PGA certified. Hastings also has a multi-million dollar water park which is a great place to cool down on hot summer days. If you like racing, Hastings Motorsports Park is a 2.15 mile road course which features racing during the warm season.

A thoroughbred racing facility located at Fonner Park in Grand Island has live horse racing from February to May. Waterfowl, game bird, and deer hunting are available. The Platte River between Kearney and Grand Island is considered as one of the best bird-watching locations in the nation. Every March and early April, hundreds of thousands of Sandhill Cranes, and even a few Whooping Cranes, congregate on and near the Platte. The area has several man-made reservoirs within a 1 or 2 hour drive. These lakes are popular locations for camping, boating, and fishing and include Harlan County Lake, Johnson Lake, and Sherman Reservoir in Nebraska; and in north-central Kansas, Kirwin, Webster, Lovewell Reservoirs, and Waconda Lake.

EDUCATION: The community has a public school system composed of six elementary, two middle and two senior high schools. Church sponsored private schools include two elementary, a middle and a senior high school. Hastings College is a private liberal arts four-year school (enrollment near 1200), and Central Community College, a two-year college, offers career and technical education programs.

HOUSING: Housing in all price ranges is available in both Hastings, Grand Island, and surrounding communities. Prices are near or slightly higher than the average for homes in the plains states. The average price of homes is around $100,000. The price for a new home with 1500 square feet is approximately $150,000. Prices for a nice two-bedroom apartment average $500-$800 per month.

TRANSPORTATION: There is no public transportation in Hastings. So, employees are required to drive to work. Mean travel time to work is 10 minutes or less from within or near the city. There is no school bus service in the city or in some adjacent rural areas. Amtrak service is available at Hastings twice a day (one west and one east). Grand Island's regional airport has commercial airline service with twice-daily non-stop flights to Dallas-Fort Worth. Direct flights are also available to Las Vegas and Phoenix multiple times each week. Commercial airline service also exists at Kearney's regional airport with twice-daily flights to and from Denver. Interstate 80 is fifteen minutes north of the office and 20 to 25 minutes north of Hastings. The office is located on Highway 281, which extends from southern Texas to northern North Dakota.

TAXES: A state and local state sales tax of 6.5 percent is charged on retail purchases except for food which is not taxed. State income tax rates range from 2.51 to 6.68 percent of the federal adjusted gross income minus deductions. Personal property and Real Estate Taxes for 2003 were $2.4074 per $100 of actual valuation. There is no city income tax.