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Nearly all major highways and interstates in the Nebraska Panhandle, northeast Colorado and southeast Wyoming were closed Sunday.

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SIDNEY - Travelers in the southern Nebraska Panhandle had to find a safe location for the duration of a late-winter storm that began to hit the region Saturday night.

The Nebraska Department of Transportation first closed the westbound lanes of Interstate 80 and Highway 30 at Sidney to the Wyoming border at 8 p.m. Saturday night. I-80 is now closed - in both directions - from Big Springs to the Wyoming-Utah state line, and Hwy 30 is closed from Big Springs to Laramie, Wyo.  

According to the NDOT, the closures are because of blizzard conditions in Wyoming. The Nebraska State Patrol says closures will move east as facilities reach capacity.

Other road closures:

Interstate 76: Sterling to Lochbuie.
Highway 20: Harrison to I-25 in Wyoming
Highway 26: Nebraska-Wyoming state line to I-25 in Wyoming
Highway 26: Ogallala to Hwy. 92
Highway 71: Gering to Nebraska-Colorado state line
Highway 88: Bridgeport to the Nebraska-Wyoming state line
Highway 215: Pine Bluffs to Albin
Highway 216: Nebraska-Wyoming state line to Hwy. 85
Highway 213: Burns, Wyo. to I-80
Highway 385: Bridgeport to the Nebraska-South Dakota border
Highway 385: Chappell to Colorado line
Highway 2: Alliance to Hyannis
All highways in Sioux, Box Butte, Dawes and Sheridan Counties

NDOT says any closures will be lengthy because of the duration of the storm.

"This is one of the most unusual storms I've forecast in 30+ years at it," News Channel Nebraska Chief Meteorologist Geoff Fox said. "It continues to look like nearly all the snow accumulation will be limited to the Panhandle and North Central Nebraska. Even then, all those areas will have (or have already had) significant rain first."

A blizzard warning remains in effect until 6 a.m. Monday. The warning includes I-80 in Cheyenne, Kimball and Laramie Counties. 10-20" of snow and wind gusts of 55 mph are possible. 

Fox says the transition zone from rain to accumulating snow looks very small.

"The contrasts will be large," Fox said. "For example, Cheyenne County could see 30 inches in the west and 3" in the east. This poses an extra problem for western Nebraska, where cattle don't clear snow from their feed by themselves. This will be a back breaking and critically necessary job for ranchers."

The rest of Nebraska won't see snow, or at least snow that isn't mixed with rain. Fox says it's a good weekend to stay put, if you can.