BEATRICE – A late winter bout of sleet and snow was cutting visibility to less than a half-mile across southeast Nebraska, Wednesday.  Near white-out conditions were common in rural areas.   Temperatures were hovering at or above the freezing mark, resulting in partly snow-covered to wet streets and highways.

Wind gusts registered from 55 to over 70 miles-per-hour across the region, causing blizzard conditions.

Just before nine a.m., the Nuckolls County Sheriff’s Office reported that U.S. Highway 136 between U.S. 81 and the Nuckolls-Thayer County line was closed due to power lines down across the roadway.  Observers reported wind gusts in that area of around 65 miles-per-hour.

Blizzard conditions shut down U.S. Highway 6 and Nebraska Highway 15 in Saline County.  Also closed were parts of Interstate 80 and Highways 6 and 34, west of Lincoln.

Sections of several highways were also closed by blizzard conditions in northeast Nebraska… in Platte, Colfax, Stanton, Thurston and Cuming Counties. A part of Interstate 29 from Missouri Valley to the South Dakota border was closed, due to power lines down across the road. 

An observer reported almost seven inches of snow north of Hastings and another report described five inches of snow just north of Lincoln. 

Norris Public Power District reported over 17,000 customers without power as of early Wednesday afternoon, according to the district’s outage map. The majority of those without electricity were in Lancaster, Saline and Seward Counties, but outages were also reported in Gage, Jefferson, Thayer and Fillmore Counties.