Winter Storm Slams Region

Snowmageddon. Bomb Cyclone. Winter Storm Ulmer. No matter how it was referred to in the various forecasts and weather reports, this week's winter storm lived up to the predictions as it brought severe weather to the region.

As predicted, the storm first made its appearance late Wednesday night, with the first band of rain sweeping over Sidney around 10:30 p.m. After a few hours of reprieve, the larger body rolled in during the early morning hours, bringing with it light rain and fog to go with residents' morning coffee.

By mid-morning, temperatures began to drop, going from the mid-40s to just above freezing in less than an hour. Through that time rain, sometimes coming in sheets, filled gutters and laid on top of frozen ground. By 11:30, the storm had produced just less than a half inch of moisture.

Just shy of noon, right when predicted, the rain turned to snow, driven by winds around 30 miles per hour, with gusts near 40.

But Sidney and Cheyenne County were prepared for the storm, heeding the warnings of the storm's severity. The Nebraska Department of Transportation closed I-80 westbound at 10 a.m., with a complete coming later. By noon officials from both the city and county recommended no travel, and Cheyenne County roads were closed altogether.

From a preparedness standpoint, officials had mechanisms in place early. Region 21 Emergency Management Coordinator Ron Leal reported that arrangements were made for emergency shelter if needed for travelers. Sidney Schools offered busses for emergency transportation if needed.

Schools and agencies around the region were closed ahead of time, and of the businesses that were open Wednesday morning, nearly all closed by noon or soon afterward.

In the early afternoon hours winds had increased to 40 m.p.h., with gusts to the mid-40s in town, while higher winds and gusts, to more than 50, were reported throughout the area, creating white out conditions in the country and low visibility in Sidney.

As predicted, the storm grew in intensity into Wedneday evening, dumping several inches of wind-driven snow on the area.

Sustained winds through the day Wednesday were mostly the 30s, rising to the mid 40s in the evening hours. The highest wind gust shown by National Weather Service in Cheyenne was 78 mph just before 10 p.m.

The storm caused power outages in a number of rural areas, affecting both Wheatbelt Public Power District and High West Energy customers.

The "explosion" of weather was characteristic of the "bomb cyclone" moniker given the storm. According to the National Weather Service, the storm underwent a process called bombogenesis, which occurs when a storm's barometric pressure drops by 24 millibars (a millibar is a way of measuring barometric pressure) in 24 hours.

That large drop in pressure was directly related to the storm's strength. Meteorologosts say the lower the pressure, the more powerful a storm is. A bomb cyclone is basically a winter hurricane, and this storm has a pressure that's equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane. A number of areas in Colorado reported such winds.

Blizzard and winter storm warnings were in effect for portions of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota. Storm affects on Wednesday were also seen as far south as Texas and as far east as Illinois.