[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzahJc9ikgw&w=640&h=480]
NOTE: The NCEP Model Page is still in a chaotic mess, so we again used NCAR through 192 hours and San Jose State University for the other model images.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY IOWA: Yes on this date back in 1846, President James K Polk signed Iowa’s Admission Bill into Law making Iowa the 29th state in the Union at the time. Unfortunately the weather isn’t going to be too great for any birthday parties with a snow system, albeit weak at best moving across the state. The snow that does fall is a very dry powdery snow, good for cross country skiing, bad for making snowmen and forts. An inch or two is possible but shouldn’t cause much of any difficulty on major roadways. Bridges, overpasses and secondary roads may have some issues during the day and into tonight however.
SCRAPED BY ANOTHER: Another storm will move just to the south and southeast of the state New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. This may brush the southeastern counties with a few clouds and perhaps a few snow showers. Amounts aren’t expected to be much more than a dusting at most, but we’ll see if the latest model runs push the storm a bit farther to the north which could bring a bit more snow to more of the state.
MID JANUARY: The Model is starting to show once again a big system that could impact the state in about two weeks time. This would be similar to the blizzard we had over a week ago if it pans out. Given that we haven’t had much confidence in the GFS Model as of late, we do need to make a note of this. The pattern looks to be quiet before roaring back toward the early to middle of January. We’ll have to see.