Author: Meteorologist Maurer

(IowaStormCenter.com) — Arctic blast to bring extremely cold wind chill values this weekend through the first half of next week. The update posted 2 days ago will stand as the final forecast with the values to peak Sunday through Tuesday and the main points summarized below. 1. Strong northwest winds will hit late this afternoon through the evening with gusts of 30-45 MPH across the area. 2. The potential is there for elevated flurries over northern Iowa later tonight with what will be an intense snow burst threat off into the northern plains. 3. North/northwest winds will continue to gust…

(IowaStormCenter.com) — Another round of extreme cold will hit later this weekend through the first half of next week. Temperatures rebound the rest of this week ahead of a strong push of arctic air set to hit Saturday, maximizing Sunday through Tuesday and then will pull east later Wednesday. This will send surface temperatures into the single digits to below zero with wind chill values 10-30 below for a time before slowly warming to above zero the back half of next week. These numbers would be much colder if we had snow on the ground. As mentioned before, the clipper/frontal…

(IowaStormCenter.com) — Here is an update on the forecast through the end of January. We will remain in a cold northwest flow pattern with Alberta clippers and weak frontal systems which will certainly not help the snow deficit. This will be the forecast through the next 2 weeks as a high pressure will dive south from Canada interacting with the incoming storm pattern which will once again shove the storm track south and east of Iowa. So, we will target next month and if all goes as planned, February and March can be a good times for winter storms and…

(IowaStormCenter.com) — A strong pacific system will bring heavy snow to southern Iowa on Sunday, January 5, 2025. An upper level system will move into the plains today with light snow to arrive across west/southwest Iowa after 6 PM this evening. Once Sunday hits, the system will curve east to bring a deformation zone through southern Iowa around 8-11 AM with hourly snowfall rates of 0.5-1.0″ for a time. Additionally, this activity will eventually move up into central Iowa during the afternoon and through the evening. Then all precipitation will taper off from west to east late Sunday night with…

(IowaStormCenter.com) — Iowa Storm Center has issued a Long Range Weather Warning for heavy snow over southern Iowa on Sunday, January 5, 2025. Confidence: 70% and rising An upper level system will dive southeast into Colorado Saturday afternoon with a swath of snow developing over the northern plains. Then the system will curve east/northeast to bring the risk through Iowa on Sunday, January 5, 2025. As the system arrives on Sunday, surface temperatures in the teens over the warning zone with deep gulf moisture will make this area favorable for heavy snowfall. The area highlighted in magenta will be at…

(IowaStormCenter.com) — Clipper system to move through Iowa on Thursday with a hit of snow. A clipper system will slide through the state on Thursday with a quick round of snow. The main axis of moisture will hit western Iowa around 12-4 AM before working into central Iowa 4-7 AM in the morning. Then the system will move through eastern Iowa later Thursday morning with dry air on the north side of the event. All activity will then depart later Thursday evening. This will have the highest amounts over central Iowa and a trace-2″ of snow in the aqua shaded…

(IowaStormCenter.com) — A quick round of snow and rain will hit the forecast area on Monday before exiting early Tuesday. A system will move in from the west on Monday with a quick hitting of rain and snow to the forecast area. Surface temperatures near freezing combined with limited warm air above will support freezing drizzle over northwest Iowa from 6-10 AM. Then the main impulse of rain will continue to spread into west and central Iowa Monday morning, then eastern Iowa in the afternoon through the evening. Temperatures will then cool Monday evening overnight into early Tuesday morning transitioning…

(IowaStormCenter.com) — The January 2025 forecast is in at Iowa Storm Center with temperatures declining and an increase in snow chances for the month. After a mild and foggy period, below average temperatures will return in January with the first arctic blast set to target New Year’s Day and a stronger one the week of January 6th. We are in a La Nina Modoki with a central based equatorial water temperature which I have not seen in a long time and does explain the lack of snowfall so far for the season. We expect that to change in January with…

(IowaStormCenter.com) — Rain likely Friday with the onset of our next storm system. A warm front will continue to lift north today promoting a continuation of foggy conditions over the area with an increase in scattered drizzle later tonight. Once Friday morning hits, the upper level system will curve up into central Iowa with the main axis of rain showers to work in around 7-11 AM. This will have a sharp cutoff into western Iowa with a 0.25-0.75″ of rain over most areas and the highest amounts of 0.5-1.0″ in the northeast quadrant of the low. All activity will taper…

(IowaStormCenter.com) — Fog risks to increase later tonight through Thursday ahead of Friday’s storm system. Light wind and increasing surface humidity will make conditions favorable for freezing fog over primarily western Iowa later tonight into Christmas Day. However, as a warm front moves northward into Thursday, this will bring higher values statewide Wednesday afternoon (Christmas Day) into Thursday leading to widespread fog risks over the forecast area. All fog potential will dissipate toward Friday with the onset of our storm system discussed yesterday. – Meteorologist Maurer –