SIDNEY - Hundreds of people were without power Saturday afternoon as gusty winds and snow ripped through Kimball and Cheyenne Counties.

248 people were without power in Cheyenne County and another 160 people lost power at 4:30 p.m. Power officials were tending to a downed power line near County Road 109 and 19A at 3:50 p.m.

High West Energy says nine of their circuits were out east of Kimball and at least 15 poles were down. Wheat Bel Public Power District reported power outages scattered throughout Morrill and Cheyenne Counties.

The Pine Bluffs Police Department said the Pine Bluffs Public Works Department was "fixing multiple downed power poles and breakers."

The National Weather Service office in Cheyenne reported a wind gust at the Sidney airport of 76 mph. Another wind gust of 64 mph was registered in Dix and a 61 mph wind gust was clocked in Gurley.

Snow also became a factor in the southwest corner of the Panhandle on Saturday. The Nebraska Department of Transportation reported partially to completely covered roads in Kimball and Cheyenne Counties with blowing snow reducing visibilities on major roads, including Highways 30, 71 and 385, and Interstate 80.

The complex spring storm started with hail and a landspout near Potter early Saturday afternoon. Rain quickly began to transition to snow when temperatures started to drop. 

The NWS placed Banner, Scotts Bluff and Goshen Counties in a winter storm watch until late Sunday night. 

According to the weather service, there's a possibility areas in the winter storm watch could see little to no snowfall, but there is a risk that, if precipitation does fall as all snow, then these areas could see between 8 to 12 inches of heavy wet snow. Box Butte and Dawes Counties were in a winter weather advisory.

Strong wind gusts up to 75 mph were also forecast to create blizzard conditions.

A high wind warning remained in effect until 3 p.m. Sunday for the southern Nebraska Panhandle, southeast Wyoming and northeast Colorado. 

The NWS advises travel could become very difficult in widespread blowing snow.