Iowa’s Weather In Next 48 Hours Will Be Simply Crazy
It's been a wild weather week in Iowa, but we haven't seen anything yet.
The week started with below normal temperatures. On Wednesday, a streak of 22 straight days of high temperatures below the norm ended. Yesterday, we were pushing 70 degrees in east-central Iowa. In the next couple days, you could see just about anything, depending on where you live in the Hawkeye state.
The weather map below says it all. The extreme northwest corner of Iowa is under a Blizzard Warning from 1 a.m. Saturday morning through 10 p.m. Saturday night. Winds up to 50 miles-per-hour are expected with the snowstorm that's coming. Temperatures at 8 a.m. Friday were in the upper 30's in that part of the state. By this time Sunday morning, they could have as much as 8 inches of snow on the ground.
The blue swath on the map, including Fort Dodge and Mason City, is currently under a Winter Storm Watch. There's concern of blizzard conditions in this area tomorrow as well. If you're thinking of traveling to these parts of the state tomorrow, I'd reconsider.
Go a little further south, to southwest Iowa, and the National Weather Service is concerned about strong or even severe thunderstorms both this afternoon and evening. Damaging winds and large hail are the greatest threats.
There's also a risk of severe thunderstorms in east central and southeast Iowa this afternoon and evening.
The Quad Cities National Weather Service also says areas near and north of Interstate 80 could see as much as two inches of rain by Saturday evening. Saturday will also be a windy day in eastern Iowa, with winds gusting up to 40 mph. Oh, and accumulating snowfall is possible here Saturday night and Sunday. We could see a few inches of the white stuff.
Buckle up, Iowa. The roller coaster is about to take off and this could be one bumpy ride. The battle between Winter and Spring continues and this year Old Man Winter has a lot of fight in him.