Dangerous winter weather sweeps through Iowa, spiking road hazards

After the first winter storm of the year passed through earlier in the week, blizzard conditions descended Friday on Iowa with snowfall and strong winds, paired with declining temperatures, spelling perilous travel on roadways.

The Iowa Department of Transportation had more than 675 plows on the roads Friday morning. That dropped to around 600 by the afternoon. The combination of wind, snow and low temperatures made their jobs harder: After plows passed through rural areas, drifting snow quickly flooded some roadways again. Even if blowing winds make the roads look cleared, there still may be a layer of ice present.

Road treatments like brine become less effective in temperatures lower than 0 degrees, keeping roads slick and dangerous. Operators may switch to rock salt in colder weather, but it doesn’t stick to roadways as well as brine.

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Plows will remain on the roads until it’s unsafe to do so, said Andrea Henry, Iowa DOT director of strategic communications. Hazards include declining visibility and increases in drifting snow.

“It's really based on the operator and our maintenance supervisors in those areas,” Henry said. “If they're getting to a point where they can barely see in front of them, where they can't see where they're at on the roadway, then we would pull those plows. But generally we're going to stay out there as long as we possibly can.”

As of 4 p.m. Friday, no state plows had been taken off the roads yet. Some counties announced snow plow removal throughout the day, including Johnson County, which planned to pull its snow removal equipment at 6 p.m. Friday. Crews would resume normal operations early Saturday morning.

The Iowa State Patrol, Iowa DOT and National Weather Service are urging residents to stay off the roads. Snow-covered or partially covered roadways were reported across the entire state. Travel was not advised for about half of the state Friday afternoon, including most of Eastern Iowa to Des Moines to Southwest Iowa. Most counties were marked as “towing not recommended.”

Several roads across the state were marked impassible by Friday afternoon, mostly in Western Iowa. IA-175, north of Des Moines, was also deemed impassible due to drifting snow.

From 12:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Friday, the Iowa State Patrol responded to 34 crashes. Personal damages were reported in 27, and injuries were reported in seven. No fatalities were reported. The patrol received 355 calls for motorist assists.

“The No. 1 advice we give is if you don't have to make a trip, don't go,” Henry said. “If you do have to go, use your resources. Make sure you're listening to the forecasts.” She recommended keeping tabs on the Iowa DOT’s Iowa 511 road condition map and packing a winter survival kit if traveling.

A blizzard warning is in effect for a swath of Eastern Iowa, from Waterloo down to Keokuk, until noon Saturday. The warning was expanded to Northeast Iowa late Friday morning.

The most significant travel impacts are forecast to engulf Eastern Iowa on Friday night into Saturday, when strong winds up to 50 mph will cause blowing and drifting snow.

A wind chill watch will follow from Saturday evening until Tuesday morning. Wind chills will drop to at least minus 40 degrees from the weekend into next week, with the coldest expected early Monday and Tuesday mornings.

As of Friday morning, between 1 to 4 inches of snow had fallen overnight in Eastern Iowa. The weather service’s Quad Cities Bureau projected Cedar Rapids and Iowa City may see between 5 and 8 inches of additional snow into Friday evening, while areas northeast may see up to a foot more.

Snowfall should end in Eastern Iowa between 9 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday, depending on the location. Blowing and drifting snow and travel impacts may continue longer into Saturday morning.

Brittney J. Miller is the Energy & Environment Reporter for The Gazette and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

Comments: (319) 398-8370; brittney.miller@thegazette.com