North Platte, NE : Two people died in wrecks in central Nebraska on Thursday, December, 21st 2017

Two people died in wrecks Thursday caused by winter weather in central Nebraska.

One man died after a wreck on U.S. Highway 30 near Maxwell. According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a call around 10 a.m. that a man was trapped in a vehicle that had left the road at the top of the overpass near mile marker 190. The vehicle rolled and hit a tree at the bottom of the south side of the overpass.

The driver, 29-year-old Constantino Megariz-Carter of North Platte, was dead when deputies and emergency personnel arrived, according to the sheriff’s department. Police reports say seat belts were not in use, and drugs or alcohol did not appear to be factors.

Nebraska State Patrol troopers responded to a fatal accident about 1 p.m. on Interstate 80 at mile marker 222 near Cozad. A vehicle lost control on the ice, rolled into the median and ejected Joshua Mulder, 20, from the back seat.

Mulder, of Oakland, was not wearing a seat belt. The driver and two other passengers had their belts in place.

Ice on the interstate also caused several wrecks resulting in injuries.

About 11 a.m., troopers responded to a call about a pickup that rolled off westbound I-80 near mile marker 174. Officers on scene said the vehicle left the interstate because of ice. It rolled at least once before stopping in a ditch.

Both occupants were ejected from the vehicle. Neither was wearing a seat belt, police reports said. Both were transported to Great Plains Health, but their conditions were unknown.

Later in the day, troopers were called to another rollover on eastbound I-80. About 1 p.m., officers said, a pickup pulling a flat trailer rolled off the road near mile marker 172 when the trailer began weaving on the ice and the driver lost control of the truck.

The driver, the only occupant, was unharmed.

In all, troopers saw about 12 accidents and sheriff’s deputies saw three as of 6 p.m.

According to the National Weather Service, the greatest accumulation of snow was in the northwest. Cody and Kilgore received 4 and 5 inches, respectively. At Lee Bird Field in North Platte, however, only one-tenth of an inch was recorded. Roads in North Platte were slushy all day Thursday after freezing drizzle in the morning and snow that tapered off in the evening.

Temperatures dropped into single digits all across western Nebraska overnight. Highs for Friday were predicted in the low to mid-30s for North Platte, said meteorologist Ed Townsend.

“We’re not going to see much of a rebound in temperatures,” he said.

Townsend said the forecast for Friday and Saturday did not contain ice and and only a dusting of snow overnight. North Platte’s skies are expected to be sunny, and Lincoln County may see less than an inch of snow over the weekend.

Christmas snow is possible in the eastern Panhandle.

Source :
Two people killed in winter weather-related wrecks Thursday