It’s getting deep around here

A fresh blanket of snow and windy conditions made travel in the Fremont area a bit difficult this morning.

And conditions forced many schools to close or open late. Fremont Public Schools, Archbishop Bergan Catholic Schools, Trinity Lutheran School and Cedar Bluffs Public Schools were closed today. Others, such as Dodge, North Bend Central and Arlington were set to begin late.

This latest storm dumped up to 5 inches of snow on the area, depending on your location. Tribune weather spotters reported 5 inches of snow in Arlington, 4.8 inches in Fremont, 4.5 inches in North Bend, 4.25 inches in Hooper, 3.5 inches in Wahoo and 3 inches in Oakland.

It also made travel difficult. Weather spotters for the Tribune reported slick conditions on U.S. Highway 30 between North Bend and Fremont and on Nebraska Highway 92 east of Wahoo.

The Nebraska Department of Roads’ Traveler Information Portal was urging extreme caution on all of the roads in Dodge, Saunders and Washington counties. Extreme caution was urged on U.S. 275 all the way to Wisner and on U.S. 275 north to Rosalie.

For the latest road conditions, call 511 from any phone or visit www.511nebraska.org/ndortip/index.jsp on the Web.

Most communities in the Fremont area also declared snow emergencies. Fremont’s snow emergency was to end at 2 p.m. today. During a snow emergency, residents are not allowed to park on snow routes and are requested to move cars from the curb to allow to plows to clear streets.

Fremont’s street department were plowing in residential areas this morning.

Snow remains in the forecast, too.

The forecast from the National Weather Service in Valley calls for a 20 percent chance of snow after midnight and a 20 percent chance on snow Thursday morning.

Temperatures won’t be too bad, though. It should become mostly sunny this afternoon with a high temperature in the lower 20s. Thursday’s high should be around 30.

Fresh snow means many of us have been out -- or will be out -- clearing sidewalks.

Emergency physicians at Fremont Area Medical Center offer these tips when removing snow:

* Warm up muscles by walking or marching in place, and do some stretches.

* Shovel early and often. The fresh snow will be much lighter than it will be once it’s had a chance to melt or pack.

* Push, don’t lift. Try pushing the snow in the same way a snow plow works.

* Avoid bending and twisting.

* Take your time and take a break every 15 minutes. Your body is working hard just to stay warm.

* Drink water. You may not feel like you’re becoming dehydrated, but in the cold, dry air, you lose a lot of water through respiration and perspiration.

* Don't eat, drink alcohol or smoke prior to shoveling. They put a strain on your heart.