Campus Alert Archive
NWU

A Small Lincoln University Calls a Snow Day Ahead of 70-mph Blizzard Winds

NEwinter stormadvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln closed and cancelled in-person classes ahead of a blizzard. The National Weather Service expected rain to turn to snow by mid-morning with wind gusts up to 70 mph creating blizzard conditions, and a blizzard warning was in effect into the evening. Online classes continued and employees were encouraged to work remotely.

Alerts
1
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
Nebraska Wesleyan University
Private Masters · NE
~1,800 students
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstruction282 chars
NWU will be closed on Wednesday, March 19, due to predicted snowfall and blizzard conditions. In-person classes are cancelled. Online classes, regardless of program, will take place as scheduled. Employees are encouraged to work remotely if they have an NWU laptop or home computer.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reconstructed closely from the university's own closure announcement, which stated in-person classes were cancelled while online classes proceeded; the precise alert wording was not republished, so isVerbatimConfirmed is false.
The decision was a pre-storm advisory issued the evening before, timed to the forecast that rain would change to snow between 7-9 a.m. with gusts up to 70 mph.
Context

Background

Nebraska Wesleyan University is a private Methodist-affiliated institution of roughly 1,800 students in Lincoln, Nebraska. On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, NWU closed and cancelled in-person classes as a powerful late-season system moved across the Plains. The National Weather Service forecast rain changing to snow between 7-9 a.m. with wind gusts up to 70 mph, and a blizzard warning was in effect into the evening; the storm was part of the broader early-March 2025 blizzard that battered the central United States. NWU kept online classes running and encouraged employees to work remotely, and the closure also let maintenance crews clear snow from sidewalks and lots. The case shows how a small private university uses an advisory-level closure notice, rather than a Clery emergency notification, to manage a forecasted weather hazard while keeping instruction going online.
Analysis

Key Findings

A small private university issued a pre-storm closure the evening before, cancelling in-person classes for March 19, 2025 while keeping online classes running
The closure responded to an NWS blizzard warning with forecast wind gusts up to 70 mph as part of the early-March 2025 Plains blizzard
The notice was an advisory-level weather closure rather than a Clery emergency notification, illustrating the lower end of the campus-alert severity spectrum
Outcome
In-person classes were cancelled and the campus closed for the day; online classes proceeded. The closure let maintenance crews clear snow during the high-wind blizzard.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Official
    NWU closed Wednesday, March 19, due to predicted snowfall, blizzard conditions - Nebraska Wesleyan University
    nebrwesleyan.edu
  2. Official
    Blizzard of March 19, 2025 - National Weather Service Omaha/Valley
    weather.gov
  3. Source
    Early March 2025 North American blizzard - Wikipedia
    en.wikipedia.org
Tags
winter-stormblizzardnebraskaprivate-universitycampus-closureadvisory
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion