Arctic Air Mass To Target Iowa End Month Into February

A strong arctic air mass will eye the forecast area by the end of the month after several snow chances hit the forecast area, so read on for details…

Temperatures are very cold north of the states and with time, this will dive south into the forecast area. The start of the event will come this weekend and into the first half of February. The cold air mass maximizes the first week of February with readings that can potentially come close to December 2022 standards. That was the time we had near 50 below wind chill values in northwest Iowa and this will likely bring 20-40 below wind chill values but certainly think that it’s possible to see readings lower then that as well. In terms of snow, we have several chances in the cards between now and the time the arctic blast hits. The first chance of snow will come Wednesday with the main axis of moisture from central to eastern Iowa, but a piece of energy will pivot southeast out of the northern plains which will give the rest of Iowa a risk for scattered snow showers Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning.

Then a clipper system will follow by Thursday night/Friday with a decent shot of snow for the forecast area and the chances continue thereafter into the following weekend. Despite additional snow chances likely during the shot of cold air, precipitation will run below normal during week 2. The more active precipitation pattern shall return once the arctic air departs in late week 2 into the early part of week 3 but that said, temperatures will continue to run below normal. The forecast radar and snowfall forecast for Wednesday’s storm system is below where the east and southeast zones will be the target for the most snow out of the system.

I will be crunching the numbers over the coming days for Friday so stay tuned to Iowa Storm Center.com for further updates.

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Snowfall Forecast – Valid Wednesday through Thursday

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Forecast radar – valid Wednesday through Thursday