Here are a few snow amounts so far, with more snow on the way.
6 Miles NW of Des Moines 11 inches
Des Moines area 9-11 inches
Corning 10 inches
Guthrie Center 9.5 inches
Adel 9 inches
Audubon 9 inches
Waterloo 9 inches
Atlantic 9 inches
Mount Ayr 9 inches
Leon 8.5 inches
Winterset 8.5 inches
Vinton 7.5 inches
Osecola 7.5 inches
Cedar Rapids 6 inches
More amounts will be posted later tonight and tomorrow morning.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
718 PM CST TUE DEC 8 2009
IAZ040-041-051-052-090330-
BUCHANAN-DELAWARE-BENTON-LINN-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF…INDEPENDENCE…MANCHESTER…VINTON…
CEDAR RAPIDS
718 PM CST TUE DEC 8 2009
…THUNDERSNOW AND VERY HEAVY SNOWFALL RATES LIKELY THIS
EVENING IN EAST CENTRAL IOWA…
AT 710 PM CST…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LARGE AREA OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW COVERING MUCH OF EASTERN IOWA. LIGHTNING HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THE SNOW IN VINTON AND PORTIONS OF BENTON COUNTY. THE POTENTIAL FOR LIGHTNING…AND THUNDERSNOW…WILL CONTINUE MAINLY WEST AND NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM CEDAR RAPIDS TO DYERSVILLE THROUGH 9 PM.
THUNDERSNOW WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SNOWFALL RATES AS HIGH AS 2 TO 3 INCHES PER HOUR OVER THE REGION.
A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT AND A BLIZZARD WARNING FOLLOWS FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO CREATE DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS THIS EVENING. CONDITIONS WILL WORSEN OVERNIGHT AS WINDS INCREASE…AND TRAVEL MAY BECOME DIFFICULT…IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE…DUE TO HIGH WINDS AND BLOWING SNOW.
The following roads are indicated as Travel Not Advised as of this evening.
Interstate 80 from Williamsburg Exit west to Omaha
Interstate 35 from just south of US Hwy 20 to the Missouri Border
Interstate 29 from Sloan south to the Missouri Border
US Hwy 30 from Cedar Rapids to Missouri River
US Hwy 63 from north of Traer to near New Sharon
US Hwy 71 from Carroll south to the Missouri Border
US Hwy 59 from near Odebolt to the Missouri Border
US Hwy 169 from north of Ogden to the Missouri Border
US Hwy 65 from near IA Hwy 175 to the Missouri Border
US Hwy 218 in Benton County
US Hwy 275
IA Hwy 330 from US Hwy 65 to US Hwy 30
Radar at 5:45pm
Currently, the entire state is receiving light to at times heavy snow. A few locations in southeast Iowa are seeing a mix of freezing rain and sleet. Snowfall accumulations thus far are ranging from 3-7 inches across the state as of late this afternoon. The Des Moines Metro Area is around 4-5 inches. A few locations in southeastern Nebraska are nearing 10 inches of total accumulation so far. Moderate to heavy snow will continue throughout the night across the state and as the winds increase, blizzard conditions will be likely. Travel is not going to be advisible tonight into Wednesday. There have already been numerous accidents across the state and a tow ban is now in effect.
The NWS in Des Moines has now issued a Blizzard warning for all of their counties in the state. The blizzard conditions will not develop until later this evening into the overnight hours. More warnings will likely be issued this afternoon. Currently snow covers nearly the entire state with only a few locations in eastern Iowa getting a few flurries or nothing at all. The heaviest snow at midday was falling in southern Iowa and was gradually moving to the NE. Accumulations are still on track for 6-12+ inches of snow to fall once the snow finally stops falling. Already amounts of 2-4 inches have fallen across most of the state from this storm. Roads are becoming trecherous, with many of the main traveled roads becoming snow and or ice covered. Towing bans have gone into effect in central Iowa. If you have to travel this evening into the overnight hours, make sure you have an emergency travel kit with you, blankets, flashlights, shovels, etc, in case you become stranded. Temperatures on Wednesday will plummet into the single digits and teens by late afternoon, with winds gusting over 30-40mph, this will likely create wind chills well below zero.
Snow has overspread the state this morning. Most of it is remaining light with a few moderate bursts at times. Winter Storm Warnings will go into effect this morning across most of the state. Snow will remain light to moderate throughout the daylight hours with intensity increasing toward sunset. Tonight into Wednesday morning will be the main time for the heaviest snow and the beginning of the strong winds. Accumulations still are holding at 6-12+ inches across most of the state. Higher amounts will be possible in areas that receive thunder and lightning mixed in. Those locations could see accumulations over a foot. An area forecast discussion out of Des Moines this morning mentioned 14-16 inches in those areas that do get thunder and lightning with the snow. Road conditions this morning across the state are partly to completely covered in snow, if you have to travel this morning, be careful and drive slowly.
NOTE: The last post just got published, but due to an internal error (internet crashing), it was actually written this afternoon.
The snow is moving into the state tonight. The Winter Storm Warning in SW Iowa has begun early and is in effect now. The snow is light at this time, but road conditions are beginning to deteroriate across the southwestern portions of the state. Interstate 35 south of Osceola is reporting snow covered roads, as is Interstate 80 near Council Bluffs and Interstate 29. The snow will overspread the state tonight with 1-3 inches of snow likely to be on the ground by sunrise tomorrow morning.
Winter Storm Warnings are now out for nearly the entire state except NE Iowa where the NWS in La Crosse has issued a Blizzard Warning for Lyon County in NW which is under a Winter Weather Advisory. A number of counties are now under a Blizzard Watch. The blizzard watch is in effect from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday evening (beginning and ending at various times) for the following counties, Benton, Buchanan, Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Henry, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Muscatine, Scott, Van Buren, Washington, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Butler, Dallas, Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton, Hardin, Humboldt, Jasper, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Polk, Poweshiek, Story, Tama, Warren, Webster, Wright, Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Cerro Gordo, Clarke, Crawford, Davis, Decatur, Emmet, Greene, Guthrie, Hancock, Kossuth, Lucas, Mahaska, Monroe, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Ringgold, Sac, Taylor, Union, Wapello, Wayne, Winnebago, Worth, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie and Shelby.
The blizzard warning mentioned above is in effect from Noon tomorrow until Midnight Thursday morning for the following counties, Chickasaw, Fayette, Floyd, Howard, Mitchell and Winneshiek.
Widespread snow will move into the state in the overnight hours. 6-12+ inches will be possible across the state with some higher amounts possible. Along with the snow, winds will begin to gust well over 30-40mph. This will create near-blizzard to blizzard conditions across the state. Travel will likely become nearly impossible by late Tuesday night into Wednesday. If you need to travel Tuesday or Wednesday, be sure to have an emergency kit with you, including flashlights, blankets and food and other items.
This is likely to happen now and could be one of the most major high impact snowstorms to hit the state in a while.
From the Morning Area Forecast Discussion of the Quad Cities NWS Office:
OVERVIEW…MINOR CHANGES TO CURRENT PACKAGE EXCEPT UPGRADED WNW 1/2 TO 2/3 ARE FOR BLIZZARD WATCH AS BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL OVERSPREAD AT LEAST ALL THIS REGION AFTER MIDNIGHT TUESDAY NIGHT AND THROUGH MOST TO ALL OF THE DAY WEDNESDAY. THUNDER-SNOW ALSO EVIDENT MOVING INTO AREA TUESDAY NIGHT OVER MOST OR ALL THE REGION.
SNOW EVENT AMOUNTS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES REMAIN ON TAP WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OF 12+ INCHES…LOCALLY UP TO 15 INCHES SUGGESTED +/- 40 MILES OF A FREEPORT TO IOWA CITY TO OTTUMWA LINE. THIS SYSTEM REMAINS ON TRACK TO BE ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT HIGH IMPACT EVENTS IN THIS AREA FOR SEVERAL YEARS…IF NOT LONGER.
Because of this, the NWS in the Quad Cities has replaced their Winter Storm Watch with a Blizzard Watch effective at 6am Tuesday morning and in effect until 6pm Wednesday evening for the following counties, Benton, Buchanan, Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Henry, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Muscatine, Scott, Van Buren and Washington. It also includes Clark and Scotland Counties in NE Missouri and Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Carroll and Rock Island Counties in Illinois. A Blizzard Watch remains in effect in NE Iowa as well. Warnings will likely be issued later today in the state. Already Winter Storm Warnings have been hoisted this morning in eastern Nebraska. This is a very DANGEROUS storm and should not be taken lightly.
Latest Iowa Road Conditions
