Chaos Throughout Capital City Following Snowstorm
by Olivia White
LINCOLN — After a series of unseasonably warm days for February in Nebraska, a winter snowstorm hit the capital city Thursday afternoon, causing accidents throughout Lincoln.
The city saw the highest number of accidents in a single day since 2020 amid the snowstorm. Officers with the Lincoln Police Department (LPD) responded to 95 accidents on Thursday, and the Lincoln Emergency Communications Center answered 834 calls in just a four-hour span, beginning at 3 p.m. as the snow started intensifying.
Residents took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their experiences as the winter storm affected many people’s commute home. Matt Olberding, the news director for Nebraska Public Media, said he has lived in Lincoln for 47 years and “never encountered this kind of gridlock from snow.” He posted that it had taken him 65 minutes to travel 2.5 miles, and he still had a mile left of his commute. Another responded to him, saying her usual 25-minute commute took 85 minutes.
In the midst of the storm, not everyone was driving cautiously. According to the Lincoln Police Union’s Facebook, one individual was taken into custody and arrested for a DUI after they drove a vehicle the wrong way and into oncoming traffic along O Street in the early hours of Friday morning. Sergeant Mario Robinson was on a patrol and spotted the vehicle.
“Sergeant Robinson placed himself in harm’s way, using his cruiser and quick thinking to block the impaired driver’s path and prevented other innocent motorists from injury,” the post reads. “This incident is a powerful reminder of the extraordinary dedication our officers show every day. They routinely go above and beyond to protect our community, often at great personal risk.”
The City of Lincoln declared a Snow Emergency on Thursday evening that went into effect at 8 p.m. with parking bans in effect at 10 p.m. prohibiting parking on emergency snow routes, arterial streets, and school and bus routes. In residential neighborhoods, vehicles must park on the odd-numbered side of the streets. Residential plowing began at 10 p.m.
Lincoln Public Schools and the University of Nebraska both cancelled Friday classes and academic activities following the winter weather warning.
National Weather Service Omaha reported that West Lincoln received seven inches of snow, right behind Omaha, which received between eight and nine inches of snow.
— Olivia White is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel. She previously was a staff writer for The Northside Sun.
