Blizzard, Lyon
- When
- December 16, 11:00 AM CST to December 18, 10:00 PM CST
- Where
- Lyon forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.381, -96.210 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blizzard in Iowa, December 16 to 18, 1996
Prolonged winds of 30 to 50 mph combined with loose snow cover and light falling snow to produce whiteout conditions and wind chills as cold as 50 below zero. Travel, schools, and businesses were brought to a halt.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS FSD wrote it up.
Prolonged winds of 30 to 50 mph combined with loose snow cover and light falling snow to produce whiteout conditions and wind chills as cold as 50 below zero. Travel, schools, and businesses were brought to a halt. Economic damage was suspected because of the closings but the total impact could not be determined.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Blizzard, Osceola
- When
- December 16, 11:00 AM CST to December 18, 10:00 PM CST
- Where
- Osceola forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.379, -95.624 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Blizzard
- Sustained winds or frequent gusts of 35 mph or more with falling or blowing snow that cuts visibility below a quarter mile for three hours or longer.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Blizzard in South Dakota, December 16 to 18, 1996
- Dense Fog in California, December 16, 1996
- High Wind in Utah, December 16, 1996
- Blizzard in South Dakota, December 16 to 18, 1996
- Blizzard in North Dakota, December 16 to 18, 1996
- Winter Storm in Indiana, December 16, 1996
- Cold in Nebraska, December 16 to 19, 1996
- Winter Storm in Colorado, December 16, 1996
- Blizzard in Montana, December 16 to 17, 1996
- Winter Storm in Kentucky, December 16 to 17, 1996
- Winter Storm in Illinois, December 16, 1996
- Blizzard in South Dakota, December 16 to 17, 1996
More
Every storm in Iowa in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, December 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5576127, 5576128.