Blizzard Conditions Delay Travel and Cancel Events

By: Rowena Li - Email

Updated: Mon 5:30 AM, Mar 11, 2013

With sustained winds of 25 to 35 miles per hour and gusts up to 45 miles per hour, much of central Nebraska saw blizzard conditions Sunday as the storm moved eastward.

This latest storm dumped only a few inches of snow in most areas, but the real culprit this time is the wind.

"It's just the blustery winds coming out of the north that make it pretty difficult to see," said Dean Rants, who was driving eastbound on I-80.

Drivers said the conditions were erratic.

"Going in and out of blizzard conditions. Roads have been very icy, but just the appropriate speed has been the right way to handle it," Rants said.

"Driving out of Chicago, going to Reno, Nevada. And the weather was fine, up until Gretna, Nebraska. It started raining, went to a freeze, and from that it went to slick ice," said Anthony Yarbrough, who was driving westbound on I-80.

Travelers said the poor visibility and slick roads slowed them down to a crawl. The blizzard conditions also wrecked havoc on the roads. The Nebraska State Patrol said they were continuously dealing with cars and semi-trailer trucks going into ditches.

"It's really, really bad. We've seen trucks jackknife, accidents, and it's real bad coming down 80 heading west. You get patches of real bad wind storms of snow and ice. Really, really bad, zero visibility. Drive with caution," said Walter Gaitor of what he saw.

The blizzard also caused events such as the Iron Horse Bike Show in Grand Island to be canceled.

"For safety reasons, because of the weather, we just decided we'll shut it down because we didn't want anybody hurt or anything trying to get out here for it," said event organizer Tom Gallentine.

And for the second time this season, winter weather conditions also shut down horse racing at Fonner Park.

Flights in and out of the Central Nebraska Regional Airport were also either delayed or canceled.

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