Temperatures provide ‘mixed bag’ for Eastern Iowa winter weather conditions

Monday marked only the second real taste of winter this season for Eastern Iowa, but the storm's unpredictable nature brought on by near freezing temperatures caused at least a few headaches for motorists, travelers and street crews.

With temperatures hovering around the freezing point, much of Eastern Iowa saw a mix of sleet, freezing rain and snow — a trend that continued most of the day.

The National Weather Service in the Quad Cities issued a winter weather warning due to reports of up to 2 inches of sleet in some areas combined with forecasts of about 4 inches of snow by midnight Monday.

'You've got temperatures in the lower 30s in a lot of places ... that's why we're seeing some areas of freezing rain, some areas with snow and others with sleet mixed in,' said John Haase, a weather service meteorologist. 'It's really a mixed bag.'

Haase said all areas of the state were expected to transition to snow by Monday evening, but then wind gusts upward of 35 mph were to begin, potentially causing drifting.

Outside of the massive Nov. 21 snowfall, Eastern Iowa has been almost snow-free so far this season. Haase said much of the area has been 1 or 2 inches above normal for rainfall this winter and as much as 9 inches below normal for snowfall.

That appears to be changing. A weak system coming through Wednesday should bring about an inch of snow, but then temperatures look to drop in the single digits for lows, possibly climbing into the 20s by the weekend.

Slick conditions

While Monday's storm caused headaches for motorists in Cedar Rapids, commuters in Iowa City seemed to fare better.

Cedar Rapids communications division manager Maria Johnson said police responded to 24 traffic accidents between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday. In Iowa City, however, police spokesman Sgt. Scott Gaarde said officers responded to only two crashes and one motorist assist between midnight and early afternoon.

Gaarde credited those low numbers to motorists heeding warnings.

The National Weather Service had predicted icy conditions would be worst along the Interstate 80 corridor.

Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Nathan Ludwig said he did not have statewide numbers on crashes troopers handled, though he said there were 'a lot' in the Des Moines area by early Monday afternoon. There were also two jackknifed semis on I-80 between Iowa City and Davenport and one near Des Moines.

Ludwig said there were no major injuries reported in the crashes reported by midday.

'The good thing is there's not a lot of traffic on the road,' Ludwig said. 'I think people paid attention to the weather.'

Crews get to work

Brian McLeod, Cedar Rapids streets supervisor, said crews started preparing streets late Sunday in anticipation of the storm, which still managed to throw a few curveballs.

'Throughout the day it's changed on us,' McLeod said. 'So far things are going good. A couple of degrees can change the storm for you. We fight every storm the same way, but they're not all the same.'

McLeod said the staff of more than 90 planned to meet at 1 a.m. Tuesday to get 'all hands on deck' through the rest of the week. 'We will have 24-hour round the clock service throughout the week,' he said. 'We'll continue to plug away.'

The final factor will be the wind, which could cause drifting or push snow over plowed streets.

To the south, Iowa City's 12 trucks hit the road at 5 a.m. Monday, with the complicated precipitation adding at least one positive — salt works best in the 26- to 32- degree temperature window.

'The way we attacked this storm early on with the number of trucks we had out and the material we had out, we've been able to stay ahead of it before it refreezes,' said Jon Resler, Iowa City streets superintendent.

One added challenge has been predicting the final outcome, Resler said, noting that precipitation teetering between snow and sleet makes it difficult to know when crews can take a break.

'You have to balance the road conditions with resting the crews and safety of the crews,' he said. 'We are able to run all night if we have to, but we're trying to determine if it's going to be necessary.'

Kevin Braddock, maintenance superintendent with Johnson County's Secondary Roads Department, said the county's 18 trucks also hit the roads at 5 a.m. Monday.

'Basically all we had to do was turn the keys and roll out. Every minute counts when they're talking ice. Fortunately, we kind of dodged that bullet,' he said.

Lee Hermiston of The Gazette contributed to this report.