Heavy snow is falling on parts of central, eastern and northern Iowa this morning. A Blizzard Warning is posted for seven north-central Iowa counties while a large section of the state is under a Winter Weather Advisory.
Meteorologist Miles Schumacher, at the National Weather Service, says it’s a strong storm system with blizzard conditions in communities from Estherville to Mason City.
“We may only get an inch and a half of snow out of this thing but the winds this afternoon, we’ll probably see 20 to 35 miles an hour, some gusting into the 40s,” Schumacher says. “Anyplace that’s open will see blowing snow with intermittent snowshowers this afternoon. It’ll cause some problems with blowing snow and falling temperatures through the day.”
Parts of northern Iowa may see lows tonight in the single digits and wind chills of 15-below. High temperatures all week are expected to be quite chilly, even though the first day of spring is Wednesday, at least according to the calendar.
“Mother Nature didn’t see it that way,” Schumacher says, laughing. “Looks like we are going to stay fairly cool through the week. Temperatures will be below normal. We may see warming toward the end of the month and that may be when we make our actual turn towards spring.”
It’s a big change from Spring Break Week last year, when temperatures statewide were in the 80s, in the warmest Iowa March on record.
By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City