While many Iowans are enjoying temperatures well above normal in the 40s and 50s, it was just two weeks ago that high temps were some 60 to 70-degrees colder — in the teens below zero.
January brought record or near-record snowfall to parts of the state, but Hamilton County Engineer Ryan Weidemann says they’re not hearing many reports of a problem that’s typically plaguing motorists about now.
“I’m not going to say that there isn’t any potholes in Hampton County, but we haven’t seen a severe increase or breakout of potholes this winter,” Weidemann says. “Potholes are caused by extreme freeze-thaw conditions and with a milder winter, that makes that problem a little less severe.”
The rollercoaster January followed a very mild December, during which Weidemann says crews were able to continue doing fall-type tasks, like cleaning up brush and ditches.
“This warm weather helps get things thawed down,” Weidemann says. “Gravel roads are shaping up as well as they can be for having mild temperatures and the moisture with the snow, but things are looking pretty good. The forecast looks to be a very mild February.”
The National Weather Service says the back-to-back snowstorms in January dropped more than 27 inches of snow on Des Moines, which recorded its second-snowiest January on record, while the 25-plus inches that fell on Waterloo made it the snowiest January in history for that northeast Iowa city. It was also the fourth-snowiest month of any month on record for Waterloo.
(Reporting by Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)