It’s still January, but this has already been one of the harshest winters in Iowa history. National Weather Service Meteorologist Mindy Beerends says the Des Moines Airport received 6.4 inches of new snow Monday, bringing the total snowfall since December 1st to 41.4 inches. That makes this the second snowiest December-January period on record in Des Moines.
“It overtook the previous second snowiest December-January period, which was in 1897-1898, when 37.2 inches of snow fell,” Beerends said. “But the snowiest December-January period remains 1885-1886 when 50.2 inches of snow fell.” Beerends says the snowfall totals in Des Moines are similar to what other cities have received around the state. Today is the 49th consecutive day on which the snow depth in Des Moines has measured at least five inches.
Beerends says that’s currently the third longest streak on record. The record holder for consecutive days with five or more inches of snow is 54 days – which occurred between December 1961 and February 1962. “So it looks like, with the cold weather in place throughout the rest of the week and an additional half-inch to an inch of snow tomorrow, that record will probably be broken this year,” Beerends said.
The record for consecutive days with at least one inch of snow on the ground is 99 – set during the winter of 2000-2001.