A storm front is moving across Iowa which forecasters say will bring hazardous travel conditions to parts of the state.
More than 40 counties across northern and central Iowa are under a Winter Weather Advisory through tonight.
Meteorologist Jim Lee, at the National Weather Service, says Iowa motorists need to be prepared for snow squalls today, meaning potential white-out conditions.
“We’re going to see surging northwest winds, falling temperatures and the snow squalls develop. Some areas will get little-to-no snow, while other areas within bands of heavily falling snow will see rapidly reduced visibilities because of the blowing,” Lee says. “So what you’re going to see is highly variable travel conditions across the area, and those could change very, very quickly as those snow squalls move through.”
While parts of Iowa had high temperatures in the 60s a few days ago, Lee says that warmth is now long gone.
“We’re going to see notably cooler temperatures, especially with as relatively warm as it’s been the last few weeks,” Lee says. “By Saturday morning, temperatures will probably fall into the single digits, and a couple days later on Monday morning, we’ll be near zero, so we’ll get a few days of cold weather coming before things maybe improve a little bit during the next week.”
The long-range forecast calls for somewhat warmer temperatures by Wednesday.
(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)