Bitter cold descending on Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Bitter cold descended on several Midwest states, including Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and parts of Missouri, on Tuesday as a winter storm system dropped some snow, sleet and freezing rain on those areas.

The National Weather Service issued a wind chill warning for those areas Tuesday running through Wednesday, with parts of western and northern Nebraska expected to see sub-zero temperatures and high winds combining to send the wind chill plummeting to a dangerous 40 below zero in some areas — including Chadron, Alliance and Broken Bow — by early Wednesday morning.

Much of Kansas could see wind chills as low as 20 below by Wednesday morning, the weather service warned, while most of Iowa and a northwest segment of Missouri were warned to expect wind chills around 15 below.

The frigid blast comes on the heels of unseasonably warm weather that pushed temperatures in to the 50s, 60s and even into the lower 70s in those areas on Sunday and Monday.