A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for eastern Gage, Johnson and northwestern Pawnee counties in Nebraska until 2:45 p.m. A tornado watch is in effect for parts of southeast Nebraska and southwest Iowa until 10 p.m. Sunday.
Zsa-nate Kirke wasn't ready for this much winter this evening. Her new car’s defrost is having trouble keeping up with the falling ice pellets and Zsa-nate did not have her scrapers with her.
But the driving was the biggest adjustment.
Zsa-nate says, "It is very slippery I had to make sure I drove all the straight routes the straightest routes as possible just to get to the gas station. I went a little bit out of the way just to stay on the safe side."
Most drivers did manage to stay safe but a few others couldn't avoid a crash.
Traffic on Interstate 80 was slowed while Nebraska State Troopers worked on a two car accident.
The sleet was coming down too fast and began piling up on roadways.
Trooper Matt Nicholas says, "The car that was driving in the center lane hit some ice, slid over and got struck by the second car that couldn't stop. They were traveling at the speed limit."
Roadcrews have been out all evening but in areas the rain/ice mixture was too much to melt.
More accidents are expected this evening, overnight and in the morning so officials ask us to stay off the roads if we can.
That's not an option for Zsa-nate.
Zsa-nate Kirke says, "You can't, you really can't you've got to get out there and hope that the streets are clean and that they're salted and they're going to be manageable enough for you to get to work."
For now she will take the straight direct route home and take tomorrow as it comes.
While we were out this evening we saw several state and city plows out they were still spreading a salt and sand mixture on the Interstate and major roads.
They will be out on the roads until the weather event is over.
Omaha Police suspended property damage reports; if no one is injured simply exchange information.
