Northern Iowans need to gas up their snow-blowers and get their shoveling arms limbered up. A Winter Storm Watch is in effect for Tuesday afternoon through Tuesday night for north-central Iowa.
Meteorologist Mike Westendorf says if you have to travel Tuesday, make sure to let friends and relatives know your plans. Westendorf says it’s very important that you communicate with the people you’ll be going to see if you’re traveling any distance through the treacherous weather. Let them know when you’ll be leaving, when you’ll be back and what route you’ll take.
While some forecasts estimate snowfall in Iowa may be between two and four inches, he says it’s always tough to predict an exact snowfall amount. Westendorf says winter weather forecasting is tough because very small temperature changes aloft that you can’t feel on the ground can make a huge difference in how much snow, ice or rain falls and where.
He says it’s not the case of them -not- knowing where the storm is or whether it’s coming as it’s sometimes a very difficult science. Right now predictions are for a mixture of rain and snow during the day Tuesday, turning to all snow by Tuesday evening.
Winds may also play a factor, with gusts of 25 to 35 miles per hour and higher gusts that could produce considerable blowing snow and blizzard-type conditions.