Big Storm Bad Timing

We are still forecasting a huge storm that will impact Iowa Tuesday night through Christmas Day.

The snow we getting today in northern Iowa is not part of the bigger system that will bring freezing rain, ice and snow over the Christmas holiday.

Tuesday night there will be areas of freezing rain late. Then Wednesday the storm will have freezing rain and light snow in the morning. That will change back to freezing rain and all rain Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday night and Thursday the storm will draw in the cold air from the north and we will have heavy snow with high wind through Christmas Eve Day and Christmas morning.

This storm will leave ice on the surface and then 6" to 8" of snow is expected. This will cause major travel problems.

Travel on Tuesday if you can...and plan on much better conditions Saturday and Sunday.

I'll be updating this storm often...check back and stay tuned.

Ed

Melting Today...More Snow Chances

Hey! We are in the 30s! This is going to help with many streets and highways that are begging for a melt-down.

More cold air is going to be ushered in by a fast moving cold front. That will give us a chance for show tomorrow afternoon. Friday's snow will amount to an inch or so in the Des Moines Metro. Heavier amounts of snow will fall southeast of Des Moines. Ottumwa could see 2 to 3 inches.

The next round of winter weather will move in Sunday. There is another fast moving clipper that will give us an inch to 3 inches of snow.

Then we have a storm system that will have some folks in the Midwest checking travel plans on the 23rd and 24th. As of today... that storm is tracking to the south. It looks like the brunt of the storm will be felt in extreme southern Iowa and Missouri. We will have to wait and see what the forecast track looks like over the next few days. Keep your head up and stay tuned.

Have a great Thursday night.

Ed

More Snow?

There is a chance for more snow. We are looking at a system late Sunday through Monday. There is a possibility of 1" to 3" of snow.

This could cause some travel concerns for early holiday travelers. We are waiting and watching for updates on that storm. There is a chance for the jet to shoot the storm farther south. That also means colder temperatures.

As of this evening all road conditions have returned to normal driving conditions. It is a much easier commute.

Shout out to the 200 or so Johnston Middle School students I got to meet today. You guys are fantastic.

Have a safe night.

Ed

December Numbers

Just wanted to check in with the snow numbers for December. They are pretty impressive.

Tuesday and Wednesday we had 15.7 inches of snow. So far this month we have seen over 17 inches of snow. Since October the snow total is over 18 inches!

On the average we see about 8 inches of snow during December.

On average we have about 36 inches of snow each year.

The first day of Winter is a week from Monday...the 21st of December. We are way ahead of schedule.

The all-time snowiest winters in Des Moines top out over 60 inches. In the 1911 to 1912 winter Des Moines saw 72 inches of snow!

It will be warmer this weekend...there will be melting during the day...but anything melted will refreeze overnight.

Have a safe rest of the week.

Ed

What a storm! We are still digging out of the 15.7 inches of snow in the Des Moines Metro. That 15.7 inch total was the official measurement from the Des Moines International Airport.

Very cold air is going to hold on to the area through the rest of the week. The snow will continue to keep us cold. The sunshine will reflect off the snow and little, if any, heat will be absorbed.

Many have asked how to measure the snowfall in your area. It is difficult with high wind.

The best way is to find an area that is not affect as much by the wind. Then take several measurements in as large of an area as possible. Take those measurements and add them all together then divide by the number of measurements.

Here is a link to a tutorial. www.cocorahs.org/media/docs/Measuring%20Snow-National-Training%201.1.pdf

We did have a record snow of 10 inches for the 24 hour period Tuesday. The old record for that date was 6 inches. The all-time one day record for a 24 period in December is 17 inches. That happened December 26, 1888.

Roads are improving today...but very slick conditions will make travel a bit sketchy. There is a base level of ice from the very warm temperatures when this storm started. Ice melt will not work until we hit highs in the upper teens and lower 20s. It should be sloppy by Saturday.

Stay safe and warm.

Ed