At -12 degrees, this cold is hardly fit for man or cattle

Ed Hanzel knows how important it is to be prepared for extreme frigid conditions.

The northern Saunders County cattle farmer said the best way to beat extreme cold weather like area residents experienced Sunday is to make sure the livestock is healthy.

“The most important thing is to make sure the cattle are in good conditions before it hits,” said Hanzel, who has a cow-calf operation of about 50 cows and a feed lot operation of about 120 head of cattle. “You have to make sure they can handle this kind of weather.”

That means giving them protein supplements plus feeding them protein-rich alfalfa and high-quality hay.

“Plus when it’s this cold, we like to spread out hay bales for them to lay on. We have to make sure they have plenty of water, and make sure the water isn’t frozen. Salt is the key. That’s the most important mineral. Salt will make them drink. Eating and drinking will keep their body temperatures up.

“We try to get them down by a wind break,” Hanzel continued. “This can be hard on livestock. We will walk through the pens two or three times a day when it’s cold like this. We see if any of them have snotty noses and their heads down. We’ll get them treated right away if they do.”

Lows around Fremont dipped well below zero overnight. The National Weather Service said the low in Fremont at 6 a.m. today was -11 degrees. The Fremont Department of Utilities reported a low of -12.

Fremont Tribune weather spotters around the area reported even colder conditions in many areas: -16 in Hooper, -17 in Oakland, -11 in Wahoo, -10 in Arlington and North Bend.

The weekend started with light snow in the area as residents prepared for the colder temperatures. Two inches of snow was reported in Hooper and Arlington with other areas reporting between 1 inch and .5 inches.

Meteorologist Cathy Zapotocny said conditions were just right for this frigid cold snap.

An area of arctic high pressure was over the region, she said. With winds dropping off to near calm combined with clear skies snow cover, temperatures got much colder than they normally would have.

Zapotocny said areas to the north and west reached lower temperatures overnight. Columbus hit -15 and Norfolk got down to -18.

But local residents can expect some warming over the next few days, she said.

“We’re looking at a moderating trend for the next several days,” she said. “The high today in Fremont will be around 12. The low tonight will be around 11. We’re not going to see much difference there.”

A weather system moving in tonight will bring a slight chance of light snow, and another system will move into the area tomorrow night bringing another chance for snow. However, Fremont and Dodge County will be on the northern side of that weather system and may not get much snow at all.

Fremont area residents can expect a high temperature Tuesday of about 25 degrees.

Even as cold as it was Sunday night, don’t think it was even near a record temperature for the month of December even though most residents won’t remember it.

Information released from the High Plains Regional Climate Center in Lincoln shows that the lowest temperature for December was -30 in 1919.

This won’t even set a new record for Dec. 21 or 22.

Information from the regional climate center showed that the record low for Dec. 22 is -24 with a record lowest high temperate of -8 in 1989. The day before wasn’t much better. The record low for Dec. 21 is -20 with a record lowest high temperature of -2.