Had enough yet? More snow likely on the way

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

While citizens of Charles City were digging out of the more than 5 inches of snow that covered the area this past weekend, Mother Nature was conjuring up another winter weather system that the National Weather Service (NWS) calls “strikingly similar” to the one that just moved through.

The system will move in around midnight tonight Tuesday) and will continue for much of Wednesday, and could produce similar amounts of snow.

The weekend snowstorm dropped around 4-6 inches of snow in much of northeast and north central Iowa and southeast Minnesota. To the west, Mason City and Clear lake each received around 6 inches of snow. North of the Minnesota border, Austin received 5 inches of snow, Rochester had more than 4 and Albert Lea received 3.

Charles City was in the 5-inch range, while parts of Floyd County received more than 6 inches of snow. To the east, 7 inches fell in Clayton County and 8 inches of snow was dumped on Fayette County.

The NWS expects snow to develop over southwest Iowa early Tuesday evening and shift northeast during the rest of the night. Intense snowfall rates are expected, and even though winds remain light, visibility is likely to be considerably reduced at times. Road conditions are expected to quickly deteriorate.

There is a high probability of 1 to 3 inches falling in Charles City before midnight and another 2 to 4 inches after midnight, for a total of 3 to 7 inches.

The snowstorm is likely to impact travel Wednesday morning. The NWS said to expect delays and cancellations on Wednesday.