Noon - The precipitation is beginning to move on, much of the western half of the state will likely only see flurries or light drizzle if anything for the remainder of the afternoon. Areas of eastern Iowa are still in the path of the surging moisture however and can expect to see the freezing rain, sleet or snow continue into this evening.
The latest map from the Des Moines NWS can give you an idea of how this storm turned out, a very sharp gradient from freezing rain to snow/sleet as Ames was acquiring mainly snow this morning while just to the south in Ankeny they were adding freezing rain on top of what they already had. This map was last updated over an hour ago, some of the details aren't great, as Ames does have over an inch of snow as well as the tenth of freezing rain that fell overnight. Once this storm has completely came to an end a complete wrap up of the storm will be posted... However, eastern Iowa still on the lookout for continued freezing rain accumulation while the western half finally begins to dry out.
6:15 AM - Freezing rain has continued throughout the night over portions of southern Iowa that are under the Ice Storm Warning. Other portions of the state have seen scattered showers capable of freezing rain, sleet or snow in some cases. Currently radar indicating that another patch of moderate showers is moving into southwestern Iowa and will continue to expand and move northeastward. Latest RUC model forecast for the short term today indicates light to moderate showers are expected over much of the state, with the potential still for some fairly heavy bursts in embedded storms...
Latest short term forecast from Des Moines touches on the fact that we should expect precip to expand and overtake much of the southern half to two-thirds of the state within the next 2 hours. Additional freezing rain likely south of I80, upwards of a half-inch of ice accumulation; while north of I80 can expect mainly sleet/snow to fall with accumulations of 1-3 inches.
Reports are beginning to come in this morning as people wake up and take a look at what they have received overnight. NWS Office in Johnston reports .2 inches of ice, Centerville & Ottumwa both report .5" of ice and a report from Bedford indicates that power outages have occurred in some portions of the state. Additional reports from the Des Moines Airport indicate that nearly .4" of ice has fallen there, Atlantic reports of a quarter inch of ice. The only snow report thus far comes out of Sioux City where they have received just under 2 inches of snow overnight. Expect reports to really pour in this morning, you can read the latest ones by viewing the 'local storm reports' links to the right. Next update likely to come during the early afternoon hours, after I've finished with my two finals tests for today!
10:30 PM - Likely the only update for tonight, freezing rain has surged northward this evening and is already as far north as a Harlan to Winterset to Albia line in southern Iowa. Freezing rain is likely to accumulate rapidly as moisture is plentiful and showers are likely to have decent rain rates. Some reports from southeast NE and southwest IA where the freezing rain began only an hour to an hour and a half ago indicate that accumulations are already nearing a quarter of an inch. Expect freezing rain to continue to push north and east into much of the southern half of the state by the early morning hours. By sunrise tomorrow could expect to see much of the state receiving some precip, with snow mainly north of a Omaha to Dubuque line; south of that line a mix of precipitation could be seen. Once south of a Nebraska City to Davenport line it is likely that you may be seeing freezing rain throughout the night and well into tomorrow...
Total accumulations with this storm do not look to be overdone at this time, previous storms have lacked some conditions to give them their full potential. Currently it looks as if this storm may truly produce upwards of an inch of ice for portions of the state and other states including KS/MO and IL into tomorrow evening. Areas of Oklahoma have already received extreme amounts of ice and put over a half a million people without power. Estimate will likely have that number over a million by sunrise and we could be into multiple millions of people without power by this time tomorrow evening.
I do have radar updating on my homepage, radar colors will stay in regular reflectivities as the mixed precip is likely to show up better with it rather than the winter reflectivity colors you may have saw last time. For the latest in the warnings/advisories that the NWS has issued please check out the links to the right of the posts. Also keep in mind the road conditions over the state, that link is also posted to the right. Next update likely to come very early tomorrow morning, subsequent updates not likely until afternoon tomorrow.
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