Storm hits Sheridan County hard, mostly misses Dawes
By KERRI REMPP, Record staff writer Friday, November 14, 2008
The Panhandle received its first serious taste of winter last week, with bitter, high-velocity winds, snow and ice. The front, which dropped up to three feet of snow on western South Dakota Thursday, had less of an impact in the local area, but still caused problems.
Just ask Darlene Sayers, who works in the kitchen at Pioneer Manor in Hay Springs. She and a few of her co-workers ended up stranded at work for a time. Sayers lives just four blocks from the nursing home and couldn’t get home in her car. Since no one else could make it in to work, she and two co-workers pulled an extra shift in the kitchen. When Sayers was finally able to leave Thursday night, she had to walk the four blocks and it took nearly 30 minutes.
“It was a long walk with drifts about knee deep,” she said. She at least managed to get home. One of her co-workers ended up sleeping at Pioneer Manor for two nights because the roads were impassable.
The Nebraska State Patrol closed numerous highways and I-80 for hours Nov. 6, and several accidents were reported. A Ford Explorer pulling a trailer on I-80 jackknifed and was then hit by a semi that couldn’t stop. A Grand Prix lost control on Route 26 and struck a pole. A Ford pickup and trailer lost control in I-80 and jackknifed and was then struck by another vehicle, and a Chevy van and U-Haul trailer lost control due to the wind and went into the ditch on I-80.
As accidents piled up, the NSP closed I-80, Highway 20 from Harrison to Wyoming, Highway 385 south of Chadron and Highway 71. Travel was not recommended on any of the region’s roads.
Households were also without power for a time. A 115 kilovolt transmission line near Gordon was down, cutting off power to customers in that area. Mark Becker, media relations specialist for Nebraska Public Power, said approximately 20 poles broke to bring that line down.
“At the peak of the storm had about 4,500 customers who were out. That started late Wednesday night and went through Friday night, with the numbers reducing,” he said. In addition to customers in Scottsbluff, NPPD clients in the Gordon, Clinton, Merriman and Rushville regions were also without power.
“The problem we had there was getting there. The snow drifts were high,” Becker said. Power had been fully restored to everyone by 8:30 Friday night, though some customers were shut off for about an hour Saturday while NPPD did some additional work.
The National Weather Service in North Platte reported that Hay Springs and Rushville each had a foot of snow, and a weather observer six miles north of Gordon reported six inches of snow and two to three foot drifts. No wind speed reports were available from those areas, but the NWS said winds were gusting at 45-55 mph as the snow fell and for several hours afterwards, resulting in large drifts. Snow plows in the Gordon area were called in off the roads Thursday morning because the roads were drifting shut as soon as they were plowed open.
The National Weather Service in Cheyenne reported that Chadron received only 1.5 inches of snow Nov. 6 but saw winds as high as 62 miles per hour. Sustained wind speeds for both Thursday and Friday were between 40-50 miles per hour, and one gust five miles east of Harrison reached 70 miles per hour.
Schools around the region, including Chadron Public and Chadron State College, were shut down and activities called off. Several local businesses also made the decision to close early Thursday.
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Record photo by Kerri Rempp Clearing storm clouds following Thursday’s blizzard create a beautiful sunset in the northern Panhandle.
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