Winter storm warning with heavy snow probability issued for area

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Snow was expected to begin falling beginning Monday night and into Tuesday, with 5 to 12 inches possible for the area through Wednesday morning.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning on Monday for almost all of the state, with snow moving into Iowa from the west in the late morning to afternoon and reaching the Floyd County area Monday evening and continuing through Tuesday afternoon.

The snow line was shifting north throughout the day Monday, with the latest report predicting 5 to 7 inches for Charles City and the rest of Floyd County.

“Snow accumulations will generally range from 6 to 12 inches, with locally higher amounts possible,” NWS said. “This will lead to significant travel impacts.”

Winds will gust up to 40 mph on Tuesday afternoon and night that will also cause blowing and drifting, NWS said. The commutes from Tuesday through Wednesday morning will be impacted, and periodic snow chances exist from Wednesday into the weekend.

The NWS forecast is for much colder temperatures moving into the area on Friday and continuing into the weekend.

The storm has the potential to bring 8 to 12 inches of snow to a broad area stretching from southeastern Colorado and western Kansas, through eastern Nebraska, large parts of Iowa, northern Missouri and northwestern Illinois, up toward the upper peninsula of Michigan, said Bob Oravec, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland.

“So a very, very highly impactful event coming forward,” Oravec said.

The storm follows a separate storm that has moved off the East Coast after dumping over a foot of snow Sunday on parts of Pennsylvania, New York state and portions of New England, Oravec said.