A blast of Arctic air and additional chances for snow are in Iowa’s weekend weather forecast.
National Weather Service meteorologist Rod Donovan says a cold front is descending on the state today.
“That will lead to a very cold night. Right now, we’re expecting temperatures of 10-to-15 below zero across much of northern Iowa overnight tonight,” Donovan said. A wind chill advisory is posted for much of Iowa’s northern half tonight into tomorrow , covering the cities of Storm Lake, Fort Dodge, Mason City, Ames, Marshalltown, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, and Dubuque.
“The coldest wind chill readings for the overnight will be 30-below zero across northern Iowa,” Donovan said. The southern half of Iowa can expect actual temperatures overnight in the single digits below zero, with wind chill readings of 10-to-20 below. Another system will bring chances for snow late Saturday night and into the day on Sunday.
“Right now, the heaviest snowfall amounts look to be over the northeast half of the state with snowfall amounts in the 3 to 6 inch range,” Donovan said. Lighter accumulations of around an inch or two are expected across the southwest half of Iowa. A warming trend is in store for the state by Monday and Tuesday.
“We’ll have highs in the 30s and 40s,” Donovan said. “There will be a brief cool down on Wednesday and then it’ll be much warmer toward the end of next week…with highs maybe reaching the 50s by Friday.”