Articles Tagged: Snow

While the winter months that year were warmer than normal, the year was bookended by significant winter weather events.

The first winter storm of the season, which arrived in Eastern Iowa Friday night, is dumping heavy accumulating snow across the state Saturday, and will continue into Sunday morning with strong winds and snowfall totals of 8 to 12 inches.

“This is likely to be one of the biggest snow producing storms in a long time for many areas, as well as being a huge event to start the winter season.”

The expected cold spell won't last, though, as warmer temperatures are forecast for much of the central U.S. starting Wednesday.

The Iowa State Patrol, National Weather Service and the Iowa Department of Transportation said in a webinar on Monday that Iowans should start preparing for winter weather and poor driving conditions even before snow hits the ground.

Students at Johnson STEAM Academy in Cedar Rapids painted a snow plow blade as part of a program that decorates city plows ahead of the winter season. Crews will use the blade on roads near the locations that created the artwork and give people a chance to see the artwork in action.

Iowans should get their shovels ready and prepare to bundle up this winter as experts are predicting that parts of the state will see a wetter winter season than normal.

The weather over the next 48 hours is expected to include heavy rain, strong winds, plummeting temperatures and a chance of snow.

A winter storm warning will be in effect from 6 a.m. Wednesday through 3 a.m. Thursday. Parts of Eastern Iowa could see up to 7 inches of snow.

Getting behind the wheel of a huge orange truck for the first time can be intimidating, the retired doctors says. And just like surgery, complicated machines take a great deal of skill to operate effectively.

More than 200 vehicles struck cable barriers on Interstate 80 medians during back-to-back snow storms in January -- which is a lot considering the state usually has about 900 strikes for the whole winter on all interstates.

Several winter storms have barreled through the Midwest since the start of the year, bringing deep snow and bitter cold. It comes on the heels of several years of drought that has left parts of the Mississippi River basin with rainfall deficits of a foot-plus. As the snowpack grows and melts, it could help restore parched stream flows — but also carries the risk of flooding downstream.

Since last week’s snowstorms, towing companies in Cedar Rapids and around the state have been overwhelmed by the number of people needing services. An Iowa State Patrol spokesman estimated “thousands” of vehicles remain in Iowa’s ditches after the storms.

East-west route was ‘impassable’ after last weekend’s blizzard