Several spots throughout the northern part of the state could break 100-year-old records for the heaviest snowfall total on the latest date on the calendar.
National Weather Service meteorologist, Craig Cogill, says it’s part of a weather system that’s caused strong to severe storms in the southern part of the state and heavy snowfall in the northern part of Iowa.
He says they’re seeing all kinds of weather with reports of hail in the southern part of Iowa today, but the northern part of the state, especially north of State Highway Three, will see heavy snow. Several spots in the northern part of the state heard at least a crack of thunder accompanying the snow.
Cogill says heavier snowfall usually accompanies thundersnow. He says when we get a lot of moisture into springtime storm systems, it creates enough instability to cause the thunder, and when mixed with colder temperatures, it causes thundersnow with high precipitation rates. Cogill says while snow in the month of April is not uncommon, this late in April is rare.
Cogill says a check of records showed in Mason City, the heaviest snowfall on April 19th or later in Mason City in the last 100 years is 4.6 inches on April 26th of 1988. He says three inch snowfalls in mid to late April in Iowa are pretty rare.
By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City