Northwest Iowa — It’s been spring for five days, but Wednesday Old Man Winter showed northwest Iowa that he’s not going away just yet.
Snowfall totals varied widely around the area in the wake of Wednesday’s snowstorm, with Rock Rapids reporting just an inch of new snow, up to a total of fifteen inches in Le Mars. National Weather Service meterologist Todd Heitkamp says the heaviest band of snow ran from about Sioux City area, up through Cherokee, and northeast to the Spirit Lake and Spencer areas.
Some of the unofficial snowfall totals from the area include: 1 inch at Rock Rapids; 3-1/2 inches at Sibley; 6 inches at Sheldon; 6 to 8 inches at Primghar; 8 to 9 inches in Spencer; 10 inches at Orange City; and 15″ at Le Mars.
In addition to the heavy snowfall dumped by this system, the precipitation began as rain, which then froze, providing a layer of ice under the snowfall, complicating not only travel, but snow removal itself. There were reports of snowplows being stuck in Le Mars earlier Thursday morning.
