SIDNEY, Neb. — A winter storm blanketed the Nebraska Panhandle with snow Saturday night, creating hazardous travel conditions, power outages and closures of Churches across the region. Five inches of snow was measured by News Channel Nebraska early Sunday at Legion Park in Sidney and another six inches of snow was reported north of Potter. 

The Nebraska Department of Transportation issued a "Travel Not Advised" alert for the state, including all roads in the Panhandle. Roads were completely snow-covered in Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming, and conditions are expected to remain treacherous through Sunday morning as extreme cold and continued light snowfall persist.

Jim Wieser, of Wieser Construction, was clearing snow from the parking lot at Sonny’s Super Foods in Sidney early Sunday. 

“This is just one of the stops I have," Wieser said. “The snow is pretty light, it’s pretty fluffy. It’s about six or eight inches deep in the Sonny’s parking lot. It’s a little slick underneath the snow."

A winter weather advisory remained in effect until 11 a.m. Sunday for Sidney and the surrounding region. 

The storm also caused widespread disruptions to Sunday Church services and events. Among the closures:

  • Immanuel Lutheran Church Weyerts, Lodgepole, canceled its Sunday service, with Pastor Bud delivering a message via Facebook at 10:45 a.m.
  • New Hope Assembly of God in Kimball moved its service online at 10:30 a.m.
  • Paxton United Methodist Church will livestream its service at 10:30 a.m. CT.
  • St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Potter canceled its service, encouraging members to attend St. Paul in Sidney or Salem in Gurley if weather permits.

The storm disrupted power service in parts of Cheyenne, Morrill, Deuel and Garden Counties. Crews from WheatBelt Public Power District and High West Energy were responding to outages.

The forecast for Sunday includes mostly cloudy skies and a high near 19. Wind chill values will range from -5 to 5, with calm winds expected in the afternoon. Temperatures will drop to a low of around 3 overnight.