Large portions of Iowa are under two weather advisories through late this afternoon. A Wind Advisory covers the southern and western sections of the state while a Winter Weather Advisory is posted for north-central and northeast Iowa.
Meteorologist Aubrey Wilkins, at the National Weather Service, says those winds will be harsh. “Winds are going to be gusting to 35 or 40 miles an hour and today we might even see a few locations that have gusts as high as 50 miles an hour,” Wilkins says. “With the Winter Weather Advisory, traditionally, we issue those for snow although today we’ve issued it for a combination of snow and the wind.”
Forecasters are only expecting an inch or two of snow to fall, but that snow being blasted about by the strong wind gusts may cut visibility and make travel difficult. Another storm system — what’s known as an Alberta Clipper — is expected to follow much the same path on Thursday. “Right now, the main threats for Thursday do look to be winds and winds on Thursday might even be stronger than we see today,” Wilkens says. “There is a chance for some light precipitation with that.”
She says temperatures by the weekend should be in the 20s and 30s with no precipitation expected.
(Reporting by Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)