Past IEM Features tagged: winter2122

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The IEM generates per winter storm analyses of snowfall reports over Iowa and tags them by the winter season. Here are the tags used for the previous winter seasons that these maps are available for:


'21-'22 Winter Storm #17

18 Apr 2022 08:20 AM
While not much for a winter storm, the snow produced on Easter Sunday registered very high on the annoyance meter and also registered some travel impacts. A few isolated reports over two inches were received as well, so the event gets an IEM snow map! The snow will not stick around long as above freezing soil temperatures and mid April sunshine will make quick work melting it away. As has been the case for much of this spring, windy conditions are again back for Monday along with chilly temperatures this morning. The forecast does look optimistic for warming this week, but it is not difficult to go up after being near rock bottom for a number of days now.

Voting:
Good: 11
Bad: 0
Abstain: 1

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #16

03 Apr 2022 10:17 AM
Hot on the heals of producing a snowfall map for April Fools Day, another storm arrived on Saturday and dumped up to five inches of snow over northeastern Iowa. The heaviest totals in Iowa were near Dubuque with totals rapidly decreasing to the south. The system produced much needed rainfall as well. The active weather looks to continue this week with further chances of snowfall.

Voting:
Good: 15
Bad: 0

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #15

01 Apr 2022 05:33 AM
It seems fitting on April Fools Day to feature a snowfall map, but it no fooling as accumulating snow fell overnight on Wednesday into Thursday morning. An isolated report near four inches southwest of Des Moines was received, but amounts generally were in the one to three inch range. There is certainly a number of weeks to go before snowfall events become something we can finally forget about for the season. The near term forecast does at least have warmer temperatures, but another chance of snowfall will be possible for the weekend. If it is any consolation, snowfall events this time of year tend to not stick around very long as ever lengthening days, increasing insolation angle and warming soil temperatures help to quickly melt the snow away.

Voting:
Good: 16
Bad: 0

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #14

19 Mar 2022 09:22 AM
While the most recent storm system had plenty of moisture to work with, the supply of cold air was limited, so snow production struggled to reach the surface. Some locations were able to pick up a quick number of inches with the largest report of four inches in west-central Iowa. This featured analysis is likely struggling with this hit or miss snowfall and falling snow that was quickly melting. The snow that did fall, won't stick around long with well above freezing temperatures expected this Saturday.

Voting:
Good: 12
Bad: 0

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #13

11 Mar 2022 08:06 AM
Extreme southern Iowa was clipped by 1-3 inches of snow on Thursday as yet another winter storm system passed off to our south this winter season. There was some optimism that more snow than this would be dumped on Iowa, but the storm went a bit further south and there was plenty of dry air being pumped in from the north that drastically cut down the snow reaching the ground production. For those of you wanting a return to something more spring like and something that matches the concept of "spring break", then next week appears to be for you with highs near 60 and plenty of sunshine.

Voting:
Good: 12
Bad: 0

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #12

08 Mar 2022 05:33 AM
After a horrible day of thunderstorms on Saturday brought tornadoes and up to baseball size hail to southern Iowa, the next storm system was not far behind arriving Sunday night. This system brought all snow with a decent portion of the state picking up four to eight inches as shown by the featured map. While the snow was literally heavy (high water content), the early March sunshine by Monday afternoon was able to make quick work to help clear roadways and put a dent in the accumulated snow cover. This snowfall was particularly miserable though for those still attempting to get cleaned up from the storm damage on Saturday.

Voting:
Good: 17
Bad: 0

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #11

25 Feb 2022 08:11 AM
Not all snowfalls are created equal, the differentiation if often how much liquid water the given snowfall melts down to. This is called the snow to liquid ratio (SLR) and is often assumed to be 10 to 1, meaning 10 inches of snowfall would melt to 1 inch of liquid water. The actual long term average of SLR in Iowa is likely closer to 13 or 14 to 1. Anyway, the most recent winter storm brought very fluffy snow to the state thanks to frigid cold near surface temperatures and an atmospheric temperature/moisture profile that supported large snowflake production. SLR values from this event are in the 30 to 50 range, which shows you how much variability there is with SLR. The featured map presents snowfall totals with a stripe in the 3 to 5 inch range from Des Moines to Dubuque.

Voting:
Good: 17
Bad: 2

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #10

23 Feb 2022 08:27 AM
While the winter storms have come at a frantic pace as of late, the most significant impacts from each time to skirt just outside of the state. While the most recent storm did not produce much in the way of snowfall for Iowa with totals generally an inch or less over northern Iowa, there was travel impacting accumulations of freezing rain and sleet over much of the state on Tuesday. The good news was that it fell during the day, so the meager sunshine and road treatment was able to clear it away. Another big winter storm event is in progress today, but will miss us off to the south again. We are left though with bitter cold temperatures again as our recent taste of spring on Sunday and Monday seems like a dream at this point.

Voting:
Good: 11
Bad: 2
Abstain: 1

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #9

19 Feb 2022 07:28 AM
While a quick hitting system Friday evening did not bring that much snow, it was certainly very impactful and warrants an IEM storm accounting map. This system prompted the National Weather Service to issue a number of Snow Squall Warnings, which is a special product to cover temporary white-out conditions due to falling snow and strong winds. For a number of NWS Offices, this was their first issuance of such a warning (this warning type is relatively young compared with others). Anyway, actual snowfall totals were an inch or less over far eastern Iowa. The Snow Squall Warning polygons are shown in the purple color and conditions warranting these warnings were even worse over Wisconsin and Illinois last evening.

Voting:
Good: 13
Bad: 0

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #8

18 Feb 2022 08:07 AM
Another significant winter storm again passed off to our south and east and only clipping extreme southeastern Iowa with upwards of five inches of snow reported at Keokuk. The featured analysis is likely too generous with the analyzed snow to the northwest of that five inch report. Will likely remake this map later today once more reports in that region are received. The weather continues to be quite variable with a rapid warm up forecast for today along with some rain/snow chances this evening, then crashing temperatures again, then another rapid warm up, then another crash in temperatures along with a decent chance of snow next week. Precipitation producing storms are certainly welcome as we generally need moisture.

Voting:
Good: 6
Bad: 1

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #7

03 Feb 2022 08:41 AM
The first wave of two powerful winter storms just clipped the southeastern corner of Iowa on Tuesday into Wednesday. The featured map analysis shows the tight gradient with the largest report of five inches found in the far corner of the state. The second system will pass further to our south and east and likely completely miss Iowa with any snowfall. What is not missing though is cold temperatures and dangerous wind chills again. This stream of very cold air is helping to produce the snow and ice accumulations to our south as cold temperatures are needed to sustain freezing rain events.

Voting:
Good: 9
Bad: 0

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #6

23 Jan 2022 10:45 AM
Folks in far northeastern Iowa were the lucky ones this weekend to pick up accumulating snowfall. Values in the four to six inch range were isolated to the far corner of the state with amounts rapidly dropping off to the south and west. The featured map presents available NWS observations along with CoCoRaHS reports. A round of very light snowfall is forecast over northern Iowa tonight, but is not expected to amount to a whole lot.

Voting:
Good: 10
Bad: 0

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #5

15 Jan 2022 09:35 AM
The forecast of a stripe of very heavy snowfall from northwestern through central Iowa panned out with the featured map presenting received reports from the NWS and CoCoRaHS so far. There have been a few isolated reports of a foot of snow, but not enough to show up on this smoothed presentation. Snowfall totals dropped off rapidly to the west and east with just an inch or so found over far eastern and western Iowa. The snow was loaded with water, so it made for a painful removal process.

Voting:
Good: 21
Bad: 1

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #4

02 Jan 2022 09:57 AM
The new year got off to a snowy and cold start with heavy snowfall totals reported over southeastern Iowa. The featured map presents a smoothed analysis of available NWS and CoCoRaHS reports. There were a few isolated reports of eight inches. The north side gradient shown on this map was likely a bit tighter than indicated with much of northern Iowa missing out completely on the snow. Nobody is missing out on the bitter cold temperatures this Sunday with even a slight breeze creating for dangerous wind chill temperatures.

Voting:
Good: 18
Bad: 1

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #3

30 Dec 2021 08:34 AM
While not much for a storm, but the more annoying that anything winter system produced an isolated stripe of 2-4 inches just east and south of Des Moines. Focus continues to be on a blockbuster storm system for the New Year's with heavy snowfall totals possible over Iowa and more severe weather well off to our south and east. Frigid temperatures will also arrive with highs on New Year's Day expected in the single digits and perhaps below zero over northern Iowa.

Voting:
Good: 15
Bad: 3
Abstain: 1

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #2

29 Dec 2021 06:39 AM
After the tornadoes and thunderstorms of 15 December, we are now back to full blown winter with activity really picking up this week. The second analyzed winter storm is presented by the featured map with snowfall reports over four inches found over far eastern Iowa. The western gradient for this snowfall appears to have been very tight with significant freezing rain and sleet accumulations found there. The IEM produces these analyses and assigns a sequential number over the winter season. They summarize available NWS Local Storm Reports (LSRs), COOP, and CoCoRaHS reports. The event generally needs to produce at least a few two inch snowfall totals or significant freezing rain totals or have significant travel impacts to be counted. You can find previous storms by clicking on the tag "winter2122" for this event or the "Winter Storms" listing underneath the most popular heading on the homepage.

Voting:
Good: 14
Bad: 0

Tags:   winter2122  

'21-'22 Winter Storm #1

12 Dec 2021 08:05 AM
After a lengthy wait, the first significant snow producing storm of the season is now in the books. The warm side of the storm system produced a number of deadly tornadoes, whilst the cold side dumped heavy snowfall over places like southern Minnesota. Snowfall totals over Iowa were maximized over far northwestern Iowa as shown by the featured map. It presents the combination of NWS COOP, Local Storm Reports, and CoCoRaHS reports. The forecast focus now turns to a dramatic warm up expected mid week with a shot taken at new all time December high temperatures!

Voting:
Good: 16
Bad: 0

Tags:   winter2122