Winter Storm in Iowa, January 24, 1997

Name: Winter Storm in Iowa, January 24, 1997
Start: 1997-01-24T04:00
End: 1997-01-24T20:00
Location: Iowa

January 24, 1997 · NWS DVN · 21 events in 21 counties and zones

Freezing drizzle and sleet coated streets and highways during the early morning hours, followed by 2 to 4 inches of snow. This mix caused very slick roads and exterior surfaces.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 21 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 21

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 DVN wrote it up.

Freezing drizzle and sleet coated streets and highways during the early morning hours, followed by 2 to 4 inches of snow. This mix caused very slick roads and exterior surfaces. Over 100 vehicle accidents were reported across southeast Iowa and northwestern Illinois. Elsewhere, numerous accidents were reported, among them; a woman injured when she lost control of her car and struck a semi-tractor trailer near Maquoketa. In another accident a straight-truck and a car collided west of Lone Tree causing three people to be hospitalized. Several semi-trucks were reported to have jack-knifed on area roads and interstates causing roads to be closed. One accident involved one semi-truck narrowly missing another which was jack-knifed in the road. This second semi-truck carried 4 - 7500 lb drums of uraium hexafloride. None of the drums leaked, but they were jostled, and a section of Interstate 80 was closed for four hours while the drums were lifted back into place aboard another truck and secured.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

21 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Buchanan

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Buchanan forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.471, -91.838 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Delaware

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Delaware forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.471, -91.367 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dubuque

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Dubuque forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.469, -90.882 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Benton

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Benton forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.080, -92.066 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Linn

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Linn forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.079, -91.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jones

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Jones forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.121, -91.131 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jackson

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Coordinates: 42.172, -90.574 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Iowa

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Iowa forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.686, -92.065 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Johnson

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Johnson forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.672, -91.588 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Cedar

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Cedar forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.772, -91.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Clinton

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Clinton forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.898, -90.532 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Muscatine

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Muscatine forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.484, -91.113 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Scott

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Scott forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.637, -90.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Keokuk

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Keokuk forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.337, -92.179 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Washington

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.336, -91.718 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Louisa

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Louisa forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.219, -91.260 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jefferson

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Coordinates: 41.032, -91.949 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Henry

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Henry forecast zone
Coordinates: 40.988, -91.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Des Moines

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Des Moines forecast zone
Coordinates: 40.923, -91.181 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Van Buren

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Van Buren forecast zone
Coordinates: 40.753, -91.950 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Lee

When: January 24, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 PM CST
Where: Lee forecast zone
Coordinates: 40.642, -91.479 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, January 1997

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5589812, 5589813, 5589814, 5589815, 5589816, 5589817, 5589818, 5589819, 5589820, 5589821, 5589822, 5589823, 5589824, 5589825, 5589826, 5589827, 5589828, 5589829, 5589830, 5589831, 5590013.