Nebraska Coverage
Rainwater Basin Duck Migration Forecast
Thousands of shallow playa wetlands across Clay, Fillmore, York and Kearney. The narrowest point of the Central Flyway funnel and the best duck ground in the state.
See today’s live scoreAll of NE
Season dates: Nebraska duck season 2026-27, dates and migration timing
Where Rainwater Basin is
Rainwater Basin is drawn from 13 counties in Nebraska: Adams, Clay, Fillmore, Gage, Hamilton, Jefferson, Kearney, Nuckolls, Phelps, Saline, Thayer, Webster and York. Those are the counties its shape on the DuckCast map is built from, so a hunter in any of them reads this region’s score.
When Rainwater Basin peaks
DuckCast’s season model puts the mallard peak here around mid November. This follows the statewide mallard curve. That is a modelled typical curve, not a prediction for any single year. The actual push depends on cold fronts and freeze-up upstream, which is what the daily score tracks. Always confirm season dates with the state wildlife agency, linked below.
What DuckCast watches upstream of Rainwater Basin
3 upstream stations feed this region's freeze line, nearest first: Sioux Falls, SD, about 220 miles north, Mitchell, SD, about 220 miles north and Winner, SD, about 225 miles northwest. When those stations ice over, the score here starts climbing before anything changes in the local sky.
Radar over Rainwater Basin
Each morning DuckCast reads the night’s NEXRAD data from KUEX, the National Weather Service radar at Hastings, about 35 miles west of the region’s weather point. That is close enough for the radar to sample the air over the region itself. Radar sees every bird in the air, not only ducks, so it confirms or questions the score rather than moving it.
Locations stay generalized
Hunter reports for Rainwater Basin are always shown at the region level. DuckCast never collects or displays exact coordinates, so filing a report here never burns a spot.
Also covered in Nebraska
Nearest first. Distances run between the regions’ weather points.
- Central Platte, about 60 miles west
- Lower Platte and Salt Valley, about 70 miles northeast
- Republican Valley, about 80 miles west
- Missouri River, about 120 miles northeast
- Niobrara Country, about 160 miles northwest
- North Platte and McConaughy, about 190 miles west
- Sandhills Lakes, about 210 miles northwest
- Panhandle, about 305 miles west
Across the state line
- North Central Reservoirs, Kansas, about 70 miles southwest
Season dates and regulations change. Always verify with Nebraska Game and Parks. DuckCast forecasts conditions, not legal seasons.