Forecasters say another two-to-five inches of snow may fall on Iowa tonight and early tomorrow, after several more inches of flakes fell Monday and over the weekend. As we haven’t had a warm-up in some time, parts of northern Iowa report up to 18 inches of snow on the ground. It’s making life a challenge for many Iowa snowplow drivers, according to Hamilton County Engineer Dan Waid.
He says with the snow and the blowing we’ve had, the ditches are getting full and there will be drifting a lot quicker. Roadside snowpiles are several feet deep in many Iowa counties, and Waid says the compacted snow and ice is making it difficult for crews to cut through it all to find the pavement.
Clearing the snow from the roads can be delayed because there’s no place to put the snow while the drifts are becoming very hard. He’s urging residents to remain patient if their street isn’t clear yet. Waid says the plows are set down on the ground by gravity, so with the hard drifting, it’s hard to get underneath the drift as the plows ride right up over the drift and it often takes a few passes to clear a road.
Despite the fact there’s been a shortage of salt in recent months, he’s hopeful the current supply will last for the rest of the season.