Northwest Iowa — Earlier today (Wednesday) the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls had issued a Winter Weather Advisory for Lyon and Sioux counties in the broadcast area, and a Winter Storm Watch for the O’Brien and Osceola County portions of the broadcast area. That changed a bit mid-afternoon today.
Around 3:00 pm, the National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory for all four counties here in extreme northwest Iowa, O’Brien, Osceola, Lyon and Sioux.
The Winer Weather Advisory will be in effect from midnight tonight to 6:00 pm tomorrow (Thursday). The advisory calls for snow and blowing snow, with northwest winds of 25 to 45 mph. According to the National Weather Service, slippery road conditions and greatly reduced visibilities may result in brief near whiteout conditions around the area.
Forecasters are calling for total snowfall for this storm to be somewhere between two and four inches. But National Weather Service Meteorologist Kerry Hanko says it doesn’t take a great deal of snowfall to reduce visibility in the forecast high winds.
With the high winds forecast for the period, expect wind chill indices to reach as low as -20 degrees.
Once the snow has ended, the bottom will drop out of the thermometer once again, with daytime highs through the remainder of the work week into the weekend reaching only the single digits either side of zero, with overnight wind chills reaching the 20’s below zero.
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Original Story posted Wednesday, January 10th at 12:59 pm
Northwest Iowa — As recently as yesterday (Tuesday) snowfall in the KIWA listening area was forecast to be near 5-inches during the upcoming storm system that will begin passing through the area tonight (Wednesday). Now, the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls has reduced the amount of snow forecast from this storm system as it passes through the area.
Kerry Hanko is a Senior Meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, and she says the snowfall forecast has changed because the track of the system has shifted slightly.
Hanko says the current track of the storm has caused the National Weather Service to issue a Winter Storm Watch for the eastern portion of the KIWA listening area, including O’Brien and Osceola counties, and a Winter Advisory for western sections, including Sioux and Lyon counties. She says that may be subject to change, however.
She says it doesn’t take much snow to reduce visibility when high winds are present.
Hanko says once this storm system passes, our area will be thrust back into the deep freeze, with highs through the weekend in the single digits either side of zero, and nightime wind chills of -20 or lower.
