Iowa is on the verge of setting a winter weather endurance record. Like the obnoxious aunt and uncle who arrive for the holidays and refuse to leave — the winter snow is sticking around the state much longer than any of us imagined. State Climatologist Harry Hillaker says the Iowa record for an inch or more of snow cover on the ground is 137 days. Hillaker says that record — which was set between November 17th, 1978 and April 2nd, 1979 — is in a little jeopardy. As of today (March 9), northwest Iowa cities like Sheldon, Sibley and Cherokee are exactly two weeks from tying the record. Hillaker says there are a couple of reasons Iowa’s chasing the record, lots of snow and cold weather. Hillaker says the cold weather hasn’t been extreme, as Iowa’s set very few records this winter for low temperatures. He says the snow cover perpetuates itself by keeping the temperatures down and preventing melting. The City of Des Moines is poised to break its own record of 90 consecutive days of snow on the ground this Sunday. The official snow depth is measured each day at six a-m.
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