The National Weather Service in Des Moines has now upgraded the Winter Storm Watch to a WINTER STORM WARNING, effective at Midnight Saturday until 6am Sunday morning for the following counties, Adair, Adams, Audubon, Boone, Carroll, Cass, Crawford, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie, Madison, Polk, Story and Union. They have also issued a Winter Weather Advisory for Clarke, Decatur, Jasper, Lucas, Marion, Marshall, Ringgold, Warren and Taylor from Midnight tonight until 6am Sunday morning.

TIMING…A GRADUAL TRANSITION FROM RAIN TO SNOW WILL BEGIN LATE THIS EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. MUCH OF THE WARNED AREA WILL SEE ALL SNOW BY EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. A NARROW BAND OF HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED TO SET UP ACROSS CENTRAL IOWA DURING THE DAY ON SATURDAY. SNOW WILL BEGIN TO DIMINISH SATURDAY EVENING.

STORM TOTAL SNOW…SNOWFALL AMOUNTS FROM 4 TO 8 INCHES WITH LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE.

WINDS/VISIBILITY…NORTHEAST WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH A FEW HIGHER GUSTS WILL CAUSE VISIBILITY RESTRICTIONS AND DRIFTING OF SNOW ON SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT.

IMPACTS…HEAVY SNOW WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS ACROSS THE WARNED AREA. THE FALLING SNOW…COMBINED WITH STRONG WINDS…WILL LEAD TO REDUCED VISIBILITIES. ROADS WILL LIKELY BECOME SLIPPERY AS THE WET SNOW FREEZES TO THE PAVEMENT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL…KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT…FOOD…AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.