The drive home from work later today could be a dangerous one for many Iowans. A winter weather advisory is posted from 3 p.m. today until 3 a.m. Thursday for much of central and northern Iowa. National Weather Service Meteorologist Mindy Beerends says winds will be increasing with gusts of 40 to 45 miles an hour possible by later tonight. “So, some light snow that’s on the ground may start blowing around,” Beerends says. “Right now, we’re expecting blowing snow conditions with visibility reduced to maybe a mile, a half-mile, or less.”
That blowing snow could create some icy patches on roadways from wheel-track glazing. “We’ll start getting snow blowing and drifting across the roadways and people driving across that could create some slick, icy conditions on the roads,” Beerends says.
Very cold conditions are expected through the weekend with at least a few chances for more light snow. “One system moving through Friday into Friday night may drop some more light snow and another on Saturday into Saturday night. Light accumulations are expected with both those systems. There’s another one that’s slightly more uncertain for Sunday,” Beerends says.
Some areas of the state could receive up to three inches of snow with the system that’s expected to move through on Friday. High temperatures through the weekend will range from the single digits above zero in the north to the 20s in southern Iowa. Overnight lows will dip into the double-digits below zero across most of northern Iowa.