More than 60 counties across western, central and northeast Iowa are under a Winter Storm Watch from tomorrow night lasting into Wednesday afternoon.
National Weather Service meteorologist Brooke Hagenhoff says rain will start falling tonight and it’ll switch to snow as the temperature drops.
“Tuesday night, as a cold front comes through, it’s going to get very windy,” Hagenhoff says. “We’re looking at wind gusts over 50 miles per hour, and that’s going to continue into the day on Wednesday, with that snow and really strong wind and with that, we have actually issued a Winter Storm Watch for blizzard conditions possible Tuesday night and into the day on Wednesday.”
Hagenhoff said the snow and winds should start to to taper off after midday Wednesday, though the roads may be icy or snow-covered.
“There is some uncertainty about how long that blowing snow will linger after the falling snow has ended,” Hagenhoff says, “so anyone who’s out and about on Wednesday will definitely want to take it easy and check road conditions before they head out.”
Hagenhoff says they’re not expecting a lot of snowfall with this storm, maybe two inches, but she says the real threat is the winds creating poor visibility and blowing and drifting snow.
(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)