Northwest Iowa — The forecast call for cooler weather to arrive in our area just in time for today’s Iowa Winter Weather Awareness Day.
Meteorologist Rod Donavon, at the National Weather Service in Des Moines, says the goal of the annual event is to help Iowans prepare for the season ahead.
Donavon says the NWS will be discussing the hazards of winter weather as well as safety precautions and what to expect this winter season. In addition, he says, they’ll be having a question and answer period Sunday evening. Iowans can participate by visiting the Des Moines National Weather Service Facebook or Twitter pages between 7 and 9 P.M. Sunday evening. The event had originally been scheduled for tonight, but was postponed due to forecast showers and thunderstorms in the state tonight.
Donavon says several sources are predicting Iowa could see a warmer-than-normal winter ahead, though he admits, it’s very difficult to predict the precipitation for the season.
He says if you just look strictly at El Nino, certainly, the chances are greater than normal for us to have at least a warmer-than-normal winter. But, he says precipitation and snow chances are much more tricky and we have what are called equal chances for average precipitation.
Learn more about Winter Weather Awareness Day at www.weather.gov/dmx.
