The updated March outlook from the Climate Predication Center shows near normal temperatures and precipitation for eastern Iowa.

The precipitation map is on the left and the temperature map is on the right.

Posted under Long Range Outlook

The image is from the NWS.

Posted under Uncategorized

From NWS
1962: A late blast of bitter cold invaded Iowa bringing subzero temperatures across the entire state. Reported morning low temperatures included -36 F at Sibley, -35 F at Inwood, -34 F at Le Mars and Rock Rapids, -29 F at Waterloo, -23 F at Atlantic, Carroll, and Woodward, -21 F at Winterset, and -15 F at Mount Ayr and Shenandoah. Even during the afternoon the temperature failed to climb above zero degrees at the Des Moines airport making this the latest date of the year on which that has ever occurred at that location. Temperatures would plummet even further in many areas the following morning, breaking numerous local and statewide March low temperature records.

1946: A strong warm front moved through northeastern Iowa bringing the temperature at Decorah from a morning low of -10 F all the way up to 51 F, a rise of 61 degrees. Similarly temperature rises of 52 F were recorded at Hampton and New Hampton, and a rise of 53 F occurred at Fayette where the morning low was 1 F and the afternoon high was 54 F.

28 February 1792 → Heavy snow collapsed the Ashley River Bridge in Charleston, SC. 28 February 1900 → A massive snowstorm set records from Kansas to New York. 18.7 inches of snow was measured at Topeka, KS in 24 hours — the greatest 24 hour snowfall in the city on record. 17.5 inches fell at Springfield, IL. 43 inches fell at Rochester, NY. 60 inches fell in the Adirondacks. 31 inches fell at Northfield, VT.

Posted under Weather History

24 hour snow totals

7 AM Wednesday to 7 AM Thursday

Posted under Precipitation Totals, Winter Weather

Dear Mother Nature

You win. Now lets move on.

Posted under Uncategorized

24 hour snow totals from 7 AM Tuesday to 7 AM Wednesday

Posted under Precipitation Totals

From NWS
1998: The temperature remained above freezing at the Dubuque airport for the 14th consecutive day, a rare occurrence during the winter months. The month would finish as the warmest February on record in eastern Iowa.

1954: Virtually no snow fell in Iowa for the first 24 days of the month before a storm struck from the 25th-27th, producing very heavy snow in a band from northwestern through east central Iowa. The heaviest snowfall amounts were recorded in a swath from around Marshalltown to east of Cedar Rapids. Several stations in this area received record snowfall including Cedar Rapids where 16.7 inches of snow fell on the 26th and a storm total of 17.8 inches was received. These remain the single day and storm total snowfall records at that location. At Des Moines, south of the band of heaviest snow, a total of only 3.9 inches was recorded for the entire three day event.

Posted under Weather History

From NWS
1936: A severe blizzard struck northern and northwestern Iowa on February 25-26 with heavy snow combining with high winds to make travel all but impossible. Storm total snowfall amounts included 7.0 inches at Le Mars, New Hampton, and Rock Rapids, 8.0 inches at Storm Lake, and 10.0 inches at Algona. This was only one in a series of significant winter storms to strike Iowa in early 1936, with the snows becoming so frequent that on February 20-22 Sioux Center reported a snow depth of 42 inches on the ground which is the highest official snow depth on record in Iowa.

26 February 1972 → Three days of rain falling atop a six-inch snow cover in West Virginia caused a dam break that released a fifty-foot wall of water down the narrow valley of Buffalo Creek. The town of Saunders was destroyed and 125 people were killed. Four thousand were left homeless on the valley floor along Buffalo Creek. 26 February 1988 → During the Winter Olympics in Calgary a record high temperature of 67F was set. 26 February 2007 → The world record was set for 72-hour rainfall: 154.70 inches at Cratere Commerson, La Reunion.

Posted under Weather History

From NWS
1912: Heavy snow fell across southern and eastern Iowa from February 25-26. The snow was heaviest in far southwestern Iowa where more than 20 inches fell in Fremont and Page counties with most of this coming in less than 12 hours. The 24.0 inches received at Northboro overnight tied the highest 24-hour snowfall total in Iowa history. Further east Albia received 10.0 inches of snow, Centerville reported 16.0 inches, and Dubuque measured 14.5 inches between midnight and noon on the 26th with 9.8 inches of that total falling in the first six and a half hours. Strong winds during and after the storm caused significant blowing and drifting of snow with most highways in the area blocked for several days afterward. Many locations in about the southern third of Iowa and along the eastern fringe of the state near the Mississippi River reported that this storm produced the deepest snowfall and worst drifting in several decades.

25 February 1915 → South Carolina observed its largest modern snowfall as 18 inches fell at Society Hill. 25 February 1977 → Dust from the Great Plains reduced visibility from Virginia to Florida. Earlier winds in the Great Plains on the 22nd and 23rd gusted over 100 mph at Guadalupe Pass, TX, at White Sands NM, in Sherman County, KS, and in eastern Colorado. 25 February 1987 → Eighty-seven inches of snow fell at Alpine, AZ as a major storm struck the southwest United States.

Posted under Weather History

From NWS
2007: A powerful winter storm system affected Iowa on February 23-26, producing severe ice storm effects across portions of central, northern and eastern Iowa on the 24th, followed by heavy snowfall across about the northern third of the state. A round of freezing rain, snow and sleet moved across northeastern Iowa on the evening of February 23rd, then more widespread freezing rain developed on the 24th. Ice accumulations of 1 to 2 inches were common with the heaviest accumulations generally in Marshall, Poweshiek, Tama, and Black Hawk counties. Making matters worse, strong winds gusting to near 50 mph at times combined with the heavy ice to bring down thousands of branches and power lines and poles, and even some whole trees. Several hundred thousand Iowans were without power at the height of the storm, and in some rural areas it took more than a week to restore. Utilities companies estimated that approximately 150 million dollars worth of equipment was damaged or destroyed, including thousands of utility poles and many hundreds of miles of lines. As the storm progressed, precipitation changed over to snow, falling heavily across northern Iowa where amounts of 10 inches or more were common. The heaviest reported storm total snowfall accumulations included 15.4 inches at Waukon, 16.3 inches at Lansing, 16.5 inches at Decorah, and 19.6 inches at Cresco. The strong winds also blew the snow into drifts and reduced visibility to near zero at times. The combination of snow and ice effects across Iowa resulted in 60 counties being declared disaster areas as travel was brought to a standstill across much of the state. This was easily the worst widespread ice storm in Iowa since 1990, and may have been the worst since the 1960s.

1935: A major snow storm struck Iowa on February 24-25 with strong winds producing blizzard conditions and reducing visibility to near zero at times. Airplanes were grounded, transportation came to a halt, and roads were blocked with snow drifts as much as 15 feet deep. The senior meteorologist at the Iowa Weather and Crop Bureau estimated that 2,024,727,912 tons of snow had to be dug out across the state. There is no record of how he arrived at that estimate.

1930: Very warm weather led to high temperatures of 80 F at Clarinda and Mount Ayr and 78 F at Des Moines which is the all-time February record at that location. Incredibly just 9 days earlier on the 15th bitter cold had brought the temperature all the way down to -34 F at Webster City, thus the temperature across Iowa rose 114 F in just 9 days. To put this into perspective, the largest temperature range ever recorded across the state of Iowa during the entire month of February is 115 degrees.

Posted under Weather History