Emergency Manager discourages travel, encourages patience as winter storm approaches

FAIRBURY, NE — Emergency management personnel across southeast Nebraska are preparing for the first winter storm event of the season.

Forecasters expect snow to start falling in the early morning hours, which could be when New Years Eve partygoers are heading home. 

John McKee is the Emergency Manager for Jefferson and Saline counties. He encourages people to account for the forecast in their party plans.

“If you can, as soon as that 12:00 hour hits, pack it up and go home or maybe change your plans and just stay at home and celebrate at home,” McKee said.

The National Weather Service predicts five to nine inches of snow to accumulate throughout the area on Saturday. Wind gusts could reach around 30 miles per hour, resulting in blowing snow and poor visibility. 

“If you get out there and get stranded and call for help, we’ll be there, but the problem is you put a lot of other people in danger in zero visibility conditions," McKee said. "They’ll have a hard time finding you plus one of them could wreck or get stranded too.”

Staying off the roads also helps plow drivers. Civilian cars driving on snow forces the snow to pack down, making it harder for plows to clear the surfaces. McKee urges people to be patient.

“The brine, the salt stuff they’re putting down, we get down in these cold temperatures - zero and that area - they work but it’s very slow and it’s not as much as when the temperature warms up," McKee said. "Don’t expect the stuff that they’re putting down to work right away until we start to warm up.”

Winter Storm Warnings will last throughout the day on Saturday.