[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4bze5gHalY&w=420&h=315]
BLIZZARD WINDING DOWN: The storm is still ongoing as a I type this across the state. It will be tapering off slowly from west to east through the day. Ending in the late morning or early afternoon hours along and west of Interstate 35 and east of there by the evening hours. Winds will be the main story along with the snowfall. Winds gusting to 50mph+ with sustained winds of 25-40mph will be likely. This will create blizzard and whiteout conditions across the area. Many roads will be hazardous if not impassable in many areas. Snowfall accumulations from this storm will range from a few inches in far NW and far SE Iowa to over a foot in a swatch across the central into the northeastern counties of the state. Travel will be highly discouraged for the day and perhaps into the evening as well in the eastern counties. Stay alert and stay safe, if you don’t need to travel, stay at home.
SEASONALLY COOL: The drama of this blizzard will be long lasting with a snow pack, readings won’t be the warm 40s, 50s and even 60s of not long ago. More like 20s to near 30 and lows in the single digits (both above and below zero) and teens. Sunshine returns Friday and will continue through at least Christmas Eve. Another storm is projected late Christmas night into Wednesday but the models have been a bit inconsistent with this feature. We’ll have more on that tomorrow after we get this current storm out of the way.
NEW YEAR: Active pattern looks to continue into the new year as well, with several chances of seeing some more snow across the state and region. It’s way too early to tell how much snow we may see out of any of these systems, but it does show that we’ll be seeing snow on the ground for a long time to come.