BEATRICE - Having missed most of the snow so far this winter season, southeast Nebraska was getting a combination of rain, freezing rain and sleet early Monday afternoon.


An electric utility's worst winter enemy?.  "Ice.....I'll take the snow".


Beatrice Electric Superintendent Pat Feist said no outages, power loss or voltage problems had happened as of mid-afternoon Wednesday. "I've been through a couple in the 90s...not real big ice storms, but enough that we worked quite a few extra hours on them."


The potential for icy weather or freezing rain, is a major reason why cities like Beatrice institute tree trimming programs aimed at clearing branches away from electric lines and equipment.  Feist says a company hired by the city has been doing that work in recent days.


"They're actually the GreenTree Arborists....they're working for us, helping us clear lines this winter. So, hopefully with all the preventive maintenance we're doing we'll keep outages to a minimum."


Ice provided a light coating on power lines and trees Wednesday…..but dryer air is expected toward the weekend, aside from a slight chance of snow Saturday afternoon.