I know a lot of folks are frustrated. I myself went to the National Weather Service website this morning and read three different forecasts that had all been posted within and hour of each other. Snow, No Snow, Wind 25 MPH, Wind 40 MPH, Ice, No Ice.
Listen to me. This is what we call a "fog". It is a forecast that is hard to make, hard to determine, and hard to read. You are not going to get a straight answer on this forecast until it is over, and even then, probably not. My area around my home has aforecast that reads "1/2 inch accumulation, winds 25 MPH" with another that reads "5 inches with 40 MPH winds".
The bottom line is, we are keeping our trucks out there and if you follow our Twitter, which you can do right at the top of this page, and if you listen to KRVN reports, you will at least know what is HAPPENING even if you cannot determine what is GOING to happen.
I can tell you this...winds are already causing temporary white-out conditions on outlying roads and drifting is already becoming a road hazard. With or without an additional 5 inches of snow, there is enough snow coming to cause severe whiteout conditions. Snow drifting and being pounded by holiday traffic is becoming ice which is already still sitting on a layer of ice from yesterday morning.
Last night, with traffic fatalities once again, all of us here at Chasing4Life and KRVN want you to be aware that roads are dangerous and that holiday travel in GREAT conditions is always treacherous. The Nebraska elements have chosen to make this a very deadly holiday.
According to the Nebraska Department of roads THIS MORNING, weather and road conditions continue to deteriorate as a winter storm moves across the State of Nebraska. Travel is not recommended across a good portion of the central part of the state.
Eastbound Interstate 80 was closed between Wood River (mm300) and Alda (mm305) as troopers worked a fatality crash involving a semi trailer truck and a passenger vehicle. The crash occurred shortly after7:00 p.m. last night.
Another fatality crash involving two semi trailer trucks and a passenger vehicle closed eastbound I-80 between Utica and Waco, around 6:30 p.m., Wednesday. The crash which occurred at mm 363 is being worked by the York County Sheriff’s Office.
Many around the country are grieved because of the loss of Christian musician Derek Loux who died near Cozad the day before.
Bottom line: despite the fact that the storm has yet to live up to intial expectations, this storm is a KILLER.
“We’ve had a combination of freezing precipitation and snow making for some very deceptive travel conditions” said Field Services Commander, Major Russ Stanczyk. “We are finding some motorists are simply being fooled and traveling too fast for conditions.”
The Nebraska State Patrol works closely with the Nebraska Department of Roads to determine travel conditions. As of mid evening, Wednesday, December 23, 2009, extreme caution was recommended across the entire middle portion of the state, with caution recommended everywhere else.
Motorists are advised to check the state’s 511 automated road and weather condition information reporting system. The system can also be accessed via the internet at http:// www.511nebraska.org.
Travelers outside of Nebraska wanting to check weather and road conditions in our state can dial 1-800-906-9069.
We have three trucks out this morning and have had them out since sun-up. We are experiencing high winds already, blowing snow and drifitng on rural roads.
Please use wisdom, not just caution, as you travel and visit family and friends this season. The very essence of this holiday is to celebrate the gift of life. Now, this week, you can give that gift of life to your family by using extreme caution, by staying alert to road conditions and by using every precaution when being outdoors.
We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and warm wonderful hours with your loved ones.
