Dorchester Times: SPECIAL BULLETIN: Up To 14" Of Snow Coming To Dorchester Area

Sunday, January 24, 2021

SPECIAL BULLETIN: Up To 14" Of Snow Coming To Dorchester Area

******** SPECIAL ALERT: WEATHER BULLETIN *********

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for Saline County and the surrounding area. The warning goes into effect at 3 a.m. Monday and will continue for 24 hours. Total snow accumulations of 8 to 13 inches are expected for southeast Nebraska. (Update: 8:30 p.m. -- The NWS says now up to 14" is possible.)

Travel could be very difficult. Areas of blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility. The hazardous conditions will impact the morning and evening commute. Northeast winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts as high as 30 to 35 mph are expected. It could get quite nasty. Precipitation early Monday morning could start as a brief period freezing drizzle or light freezing rain before changing over to snow.

According to famous online weatherman Frankie MacDonald, Iowa could see up to 18 inches. (Update: Here's Frankie's warning for Nebraska.)

According to a Sunday morning post from Jefferson and Saline County Emergency Management, it's time to prepare. The agency wrote:

If this forecast holds. It has been awhile since we have had this much snow at one time. You have today to plan and gather supplies in case you can't get out for a couple of days.

If you need emergency services...

It will take them longer to get to you. They have to get to the station first then head your way. If you have a fire hydrant on your property please keep the snow cleaned away at least three feet or more so they can find it. If they have to find and dig for it it could cost a life.

Road crews snow removal...

Please give them space or just stay home till they have a chance to clear the roads. They will get to you as fast as they can. If you get your supplies today there will be no need to get out till the roads are open.

Stay tuned to local media as there will be closings announced later today and especially in the morning if this storm stays on track. Also the NWS for any changes.

If you just have to travel let someone know your path and the time you should arrive so we can find you when you get stranded. Take a survival kit because it could take a while for you to be found.

Developing...

1 comment:

AnonymousJanuary 24, 2021 at 8:36 PM
Just sit back and watch

if you've been prepared youll be fine
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."