116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
First winter storm of 2024 dumped about a foot of snow on Cedar Rapids
Based on volunteer observer data, snowfall was likely the highest Cedar Rapids has seen since at least 2009. Some roads remain hazardous
Jan. 10, 2024 11:17 am, Updated: Jan. 10, 2024 5:51 pm
CEDAR RAPIDS — The first winter storm of 2024 — and the first significant storm of the season — painted Iowa white when it struck Monday through Wednesday, leaving some areas with more than a foot of snow and dangerous road conditions.
The storm dumped 11 to 15 inches of snow across much of East-Central and Northeast Iowa, including the Corridor, according to the National Weather Service Quad Cities Bureau. Snowfall totals of that magnitude haven’t occurred since 2018.
Residents reported between 11 and 12 inches of snow fell on Cedar Rapids. Based on volunteer observer data, this snowfall likely was the highest the city has seen since at least 2009. Iowa City saw as much as 15 inches of snow.
Snow and gusty winds created dangerous travel conditions across Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol advised drivers to avoid traveling Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 80 east of Des Moines, where multivehicle crashes were reported.
As of Wednesday afternoon, most of Iowa’s roads were experiencing seasonal weather conditions, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation. Some near Iowa City were still fully covered in snow, and several roads around the state were reported as partially snow-covered.
The State Patrol responded to 238 crashes in the state between 8 a.m. Monday and 10 a.m. Wednesday. Of those wrecks, 209 reported property damage and 29 reported personal injury. No fatalities were reported. The patrol also received 688 calls for motorist assistance in that time.
From 6 p.m. Monday to 10 p.m. Tuesday, the Cedar Rapids Police Department responded to 53 crashes and 61 road hazards, which included off-road vehicles and those blocking roads. No injuries were reported.
Approximately 10,000 of Alliant Energy’s Iowa customers lost power at some point during the winter storm, spokesperson Morgan Hawk told The Gazette.
MidAmerican Energy reported more than 19,000 customer interruptions across its service area during the storm, with outages lasting anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. Those figures include Illinois customers in the Quad Cities area, said spokesperson Geoff Greenwood in an email. Some customers experienced more than one interruption. Some in Eastern Iowa experienced isolated outages when tree debris fell onto overhead lines.
Most of those outages were restored by Wednesday afternoon, according to the utilities’ online outage maps.
The city of Cedar Rapids extended its snow emergency to 12:01 a.m. Friday. Cars should not be parked on emergency snow routes, and residents should continue following the odd/even parking rule in residential neighborhoods:
- On Wednesday, residents should park on the even address side of the street.
- On Thursday, residents should park on the odd address side of the street.
More snow may fall Wednesday evening in Eastern Iowa. Starting about 6 p.m. and lasting until midnight, Cedar Rapids and surrounding areas north of I-80 may see 1 to 3 inches of snow. Roads may get lightly covered, and visibility may drop during brief periods of snowfall rates up to 1 inch an hour.
Temperatures will be in the mid-to-upper 20s during the snowfall, but they should fall into the teens late Wednesday into early Thursday 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
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