Air temperatures in the teens-below-zero with wind chills in the 20s and 30s-below caused a host of problems for Iowans since 2018 arrived.
The water tower froze on New Year’s Day in Evansdale, leaving residents in the Waterloo suburb without water for hours and under a boil order. The cold caused a fire hydrant to malfunction when crews arrived at a burning condo complex in Urbandale Monday afternoon. Damage was heavy to the 36-unit building.
Nearby, there was an 11-vehicle chain-reaction crash on Interstate 235 in Des Moines this morning on a slippery overpass. School districts like Cedar Rapids, Marshalltown and Ottumwa stayed closed today, while others were delayed. Sioux City had an air temp of 24-below a night ago, the coldest reading there in 28 years.