It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, with up to a foot of snow expected to blanket Alliance this week.
Mike Jamski, Meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said as of Tuesday morning, the region received roughly between three and five inches of snow based on the observations.
“It looks like the precipitation started just before midnight,” said Jamski. “It was kind of a mixture of freezing rain and drizzle. The snow started between three and four in the morning. The intensity has increased since about six this morning. We’re down from half to one-quarter mile of visibility at the airport.”
Jamski emphasized that Tuesday was just the beginning of the storm, with more snowfall expected on Wednesday.
“Right now, our current forecast has close to a foot for Alliance,” Jamski said. “The heaviest band looks like it will be forming up along the Pine Ridge, from Chadron over to around Lusk, Wyoming in that area, somewhere between 18 and 24 inches up that way.”
Jamski said the snowfall will begin to taper off Wednesday morning, though he noted that the wind gusts are expected to be high throughout the remainder of the week.
“The main concern will be the winds,” said Jamski. “We’re going to have strong winds, gusts tomorrow (Wednesday) from 40 to 45 mile per hour range. Even through Thursday the winds are still going to be elevated, probably around 35 to 40, and then even into Friday. I’m sad to say it’s going to stay like this through the end of the week. We do get a break this weekend.”
The storm resulted in snow emergencies being declared throughout the Panhandle, including Alliance, Chadron, Crawford, Gering, Kimball, and Mitchell, Morrill, Sidney and Scottsbluff.
The storm forced the closure of several facilities in Alliance on Tuesday and Wednesday including the Alliance Public Library, Alliance Public Schools, Alliance Public Transit and the Alliance Senior Center.
On Tuesday, several entities were closed as well, including the Chadron Public Library, Chadron Public Schools and Chadron State College. The Chadron Post Office remained open, but announced there would be no mail delivery on Tuesday.
Jamski explained that early next week, temperatures are expected to be low, with some days showing sub-zero temperatures as the high on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“There’s the potential for a pretty significant cold surge coming out of Canada in the early to middle part of next week,” said Jamski.