Afternoon Snow & Arctic Air

Snow showers worked their way across the state this afternoon and still are as we work our way towards the evening. Some areas of the state only saw snow flurries for an hour or two, while other areas have seen snow for most of the afternoon. Here in Ames, it has been snowing since around 11:30 AM and is still continuing as I type. The snow has been moderate at times, although light snow has been the main explanation for the most part. Only minor accumulations have been seen across the state and that is all that is expected throughout the rest of the evening as the snow tapers off for most of the state.

Following this shot of snow will be another small system for Thursday night into Friday. This system will once again bring small snow amounts just like this one did, although winds will be much higher and thus the risk of blowing snow is in the forecast. Along with the next system, the arctic air looks to follow with highs across the state going from lower 20s and upper teens tomorrow down to the single digits on Friday with only a few locations reaching double digit highs. The highs in the single digits are likely to continue through Tuesday next week, the coldest days are likely over the weekend where on Saturday the highs are currently forecasted to be in the single digits below zero in much of the state!! Lows during this time will be well below zero, with some areas in northern Iowa attempting to approach -20 for a low. These frigid temperatures combined with even the slightest winds will likely cause wind chills near the -30 mark or lower. This is a dangerous combination, with even minutes of exposure to those temperatures and frostbite can occur. Warm-up does look to happen by mid-week next week, I'm sure temperatures even near 20 will have most people thankful after this weekend!