Blizzard, Lyon
- When
- January 4, 11:00 AM CST to January 5, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Lyon forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.381, -96.210 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blizzard in Iowa, January 4 to 5, 1997
Winds gusting to 45 mph and 2 to 4 inches of snow combined with existing loose snow cover to produce widespread blizzard conditions with frequent zero visibilities. Travel and commerce were temporarily halted with roads made impassable by drifting and zero visibility.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 11 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
- 11
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.
Winds gusting to 45 mph and 2 to 4 inches of snow combined with existing loose snow cover to produce widespread blizzard conditions with frequent zero visibilities. Travel and commerce were temporarily halted with roads made impassable by drifting and zero visibility.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
11 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Blizzard, Osceola
- When
- January 4, 11:00 AM CST to January 5, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Osceola forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.379, -95.624 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blizzard, Dickinson
- When
- January 4, 11:00 AM CST to January 5, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Dickinson forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.378, -95.151 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blizzard, Sioux
- When
- January 4, 11:00 AM CST to January 5, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Sioux forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.083, -96.178 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blizzard, O'Brien
- When
- January 4, 11:00 AM CST to January 5, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- O'Brien forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.084, -95.625 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blizzard, Clay
- When
- January 4, 11:00 AM CST to January 5, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Clay forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 43.083, -95.151 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blizzard, Plymouth
- When
- January 4, 11:00 AM CST to January 5, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Plymouth forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.738, -96.214 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blizzard, Cherokee
- When
- January 4, 11:00 AM CST to January 5, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Cherokee forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.736, -95.624 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blizzard, Buena Vista
- When
- January 4, 11:00 AM CST to January 5, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Buena Vista forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.736, -95.151 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blizzard, Woodbury
- When
- January 4, 11:00 AM CST to January 5, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Woodbury forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.390, -96.045 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Blizzard, Ida
- When
- January 4, 11:00 AM CST to January 5, 6:00 AM CST
- Where
- Ida forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 42.387, -95.513 (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 North Dakota, January 4 to 5, 1997
- Tornado in Kentucky, January 4, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, January 4, 1997
- Blizzard in Nebraska, January 4, 1997
- Cold in Illinois, January 4, 1997
- Blizzard in South Dakota, January 4 to 5, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, January 4, 1997
- Blizzard in Minnesota, January 4 to 5, 1997
- Blizzard in North Dakota, January 4 to 22, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, January 4, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, January 4, 1997
- Blizzard in South Dakota, January 4 to 5, 1997
More
Every storm in Iowa in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5591501, 5591502, 5591503, 5591504, 5591505, 5591506, 5591507, 5591508, 5591509, 5591510, 5591511.