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Traveling is not going to be perfect Saturday for Husker fans heading to the first-round matchup game for the NCAA women's tournament in Minneapolis.
But it should be better than yesterday.
A blast of winter on the season's final day Friday led to numerous accidents across the region. High winds and blowing snow lowered visibility.
Drivers and pedestrians should watch for ice Saturday morning given the potential for slick sidewalks and roads to have frozen overnight.
Two people were critically injured in a crash Friday afternoon that blocked part of eastbound Interstate 80 west of Adair, Iowa. At least two other people were hurt in the crash. The crash occurred about 5:45 p.m. near mile marker 72 on I-80, roughly three miles west of Adair and four miles northeast of Anita, Iowa. No further details were available, but the accident was believed to be weather-related.
Snow isn't likely Saturday, and skies should be partly sunny.
“It's going to be chilly, with highs around 35 degrees,” said Jacob Beitlich, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines.
On Friday, technically the last day of winter, cars piled up across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa as yet another snowfall covered the ground.
Dispatchers for the Nebraska and Iowa State Patrols, and in Douglas County, reported they were working substantially more crashes on Friday than they had on Thursday, when skies were bright and sunny and temperatures in Omaha reached 65. As it has so many times this winter, the Omaha Police Department again suspended accident reports for fender benders.
Friday night, the Interstate system in the Council Bluffs area, and extending along I-80 past Dexter, Iowa, was classified as “mostly covered,” according to the Department of Roads.
Federal roads, such as U.S. Highways 6, 59 and 275, were classified as “partly covered.”
In eastern Nebraska, the Department of Roads recommended motorists use caution when traveling most roads, including Interstate 80. However in the southeast and south central parts of the Cornhusker State, extreme caution was recommended for travelers using many federal and state highways.
The Nebraska women's basketball team squares off Sunday against the University of Northern Iowa.
For complete road conditions, see www.omaha.com or dial 511.
Contact the writer:
444-3106, andrew.nelson@owh.com
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