Snow arrives; travel impacted across state
Dec. 22—OSKALOOSA — The snow has started to arrive in southeast Iowa, as bitter cold and windy conditions begin to set in across the state.
So far, the worst of the travel impacts caused by weather have been in central and eastern Iowa. Crashes have blocked portions of Interstate 80 between Des Moines and Iowa City. Travel is currently not advised along that stretch of interstate, as well as other highways in the Iowa City and Cedar Rapids metropolitan areas.
Tow bans are in effect along the Interstate 35 and Interstate 80 corridors, as well as the counties of Marion, Lucas and Wayne. Major highways in the Herald's readership area are listed as completely covered.
Generally, snowfalls reported across southeast Iowa have been under 2 inches, but forecasters have warned since Monday the amount of snow isn't the concern with this system. Rather, it's bitter cold wind chills and extreme wind gusts that are expected to greatly impact travel across not just Iowa, but much of the country.
As of Thursday morning, the National Weather Service in Des Moines believed travel impacts would be moderate Thursday through the early evening hours before beginning to worse. Travel much of the day Friday is expected to be extremely impacted, and potentially impossible at times, due to blowing snow causing blizzard conditions and roads to drift.
Air temperatures dropped below zero Thursday, and as of noon in Oskaloosa were three-below with a wind chill of minus 30 degrees. A winter storm warning is in effect for the area until Saturday morning.
Wind gusts in Oskaloosa are expected to begin picking up today, reaching a peak of 44 mph on Friday. Wind chills are expected to bottom out at minus 37 degrees Friday morning, but remain dangerously low through Christmas morning.
The colder the wind chill, the faster frostbite can occur on exposed skin. At the most extreme forecast levels, frostbite can occur in under 10 minutes.
Temperatures plunged far and fast Thursday as a winter storm began forming ahead of Christmas weekend, promising heavy snow, ice, flooding and powerful winds across a broad swath of the country and complicating holiday travel.
The National Weather Service reported that temperatures across the central High Plains plummeted 50 degrees Fahrenheit in just a few hours. In much of the country, the Christmas weekend could be the coldest in decades.
The storm was so large and encompassing that around 190 million people were under some type of winter weather advisory, the weather service had said Wednesday.
Authorities across the country are worried about the potential for power outages and warned people to take precautions to protect older and homeless people and livestock — and, if possible, to postpone travel.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Kyle Ocker is the editor of the Ottumwa Courier and the Oskaloosa Herald. He can be reached at kocker@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kyle_Ocker.
