NWS Adds Blizzard Warnings for North/Northeast Iowa
The National Weather Services (NWS) in La Crosse and Des Moines have added Blizzard Warnings for the listening area to replace Winter Storm Warnings on Thursday.
The Winter Storm Warning for north central Iowa went into effect at noon Wednesday for Emmet-Kossuth-Winnebago-Worth-Palo Alto-Hancock-Cerro Gordo-Pocahontas-Humboldt-Wright-Franklin counties. At noon Thursday, that switches to a Blizzard Warning and will in effect until 6 am Saturday for those counties.
The Winter Storm Warning goes into effect at 3 pm Wednesday for Floyd, Mitchell and Howard Counties, and at 6 pm Wednesday for Winneshiek- Chickasaw-Fayette-Allamakee-Clayton-Bremer-Butler-Black Hawk counties in northeast Iowa. At 6 pm Thursday, a Blizzard Warning will take over and continue in effect until 6 a.m. Saturday morning for all of those northeast Iowa counties.
The NWS says be prepared for a “Prolonged Winter Storm To Bring Whiteout Conditions For Some.” Very powdery snow will begin to spread into the region later today and overnight, accumulating 3 to 6 inches across the entire area. The snow will taper off Thursday morning, with winds increasing as the afternoon progresses. The strongest winds will occur Thursday night through Friday night, with gusts of 40 to 50 mph. This will cause blizzard and whiteout conditions in blowing and drifting snow, especially west of the Mississippi River. Wind chill values will be from minus 20 to minus 40 from Thursday into the holiday weekend.
Weather officials add that travel should be restricted to emergencies only. If you must travel, have a winter survival kit with you. If you get stranded, stay with your vehicle.
