Winter Storm: Feb. 7/8 Update #5

Although the vast majority of moderate and heavy snowfall is out of the Plains region, lingering flurries and light snow are continuing across a large portion of the Plains due to the cold arctic air that is plunging in.  This cold air is featured in the layer of the atmosphere that is favorable for snow growth, thus flurries or light snow is being condensed out and falling over several areas. While this snow isn't expected to accumulate much, the strong northwest winds will continue to blow any loose snow around.  Some portions of Minnesota, Iowa and northern Missouri may be able to squeeze out another inch of snowfall with the persistent light snow that is featured next to the upper level low.  For this reason many of the local NWS offices have yet to issue any maps regarding snowfall totals.  If you would like to keep up with the totals in Iowa, the IEM has a automatically updating plot on snowfall totals available at the following link:

http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/data/lsr_snowfall.png


Some travel concerns continue where the snowfall was heavy enough and light enough to continue to blow and drift with the strong northwest winds.  The winds are expected to slowly decrease this evening and through the overnight, relieving any travel concerns by tomorrow morning. A final recap on this winter storm will be posted when summary maps are available...