Next Snowstorm...

The next storm system moving into the plains looks to bring snow to the area once again, this time it looks to be fairly well forecasted. Models are quick to bring in the arctic air and thus snow is likely the main form of precipitation across the northern 1/3rd of Iowa on Friday, the central third of Iowa should see the switch over to snow by nightfall and the rest of the state may see the snow begin late in the night. This likely indicates that the heaviest snows will indeed be across northern Iowa, with lesser amounts to the south. Although some of the NWS offices have indicated snowfall amounts in their forecast, models are yet to be very consistent with handling the precipitation. Thus, I’m holding off on forecasted amounts at this time, at least detailed ones… Awaiting tonights’ models to come in completely to see how well the handle on this system has gotten, either way however it does look like some decent amounts of snow are in store for areas of then plains!

A rough forecast would put precipitation into Iowa by Noon on Friday in the west, with the northern half seeing snow or potentially some freezing sleet/rain and the southern half rain. By mid-afternoon the entire state should nearly be wet, with rain across the southeastern half of the state and snow in the other half. By 10 PM the snow line will likely be across over half of the state and by sunrise the snow should be tapering off in the northwest with the flurries beginning in the southeast corner. By Noon on Saturday the precipitation should be out of the state, with the southeast corner only seeing a couple of hours of light snow if any…

As for amounts, a nice snow band should setup over the northwest corner of the state potentially leaving areas with 4-7 inches of snow. The snow should taper off to the southeast, with the next layer of forecasts should see 1-3 inches of snow in areas such as Denison, Fort Dodge and Waterloo. Areas south and east of that should only see an inch or so of snow as far as current forecasts go. This is likely due to the rain falling before the snow and could effect the snows ability to actually stick on the ground at first. I do hopefully plan to make a forecast map tomorrow morning with the potential snowfall amounts, so look for that within the next 18-24 hours!