Winter Storm in Iowa, February 22, 1999

A winter storm swept into Iowa on the morning of the 22nd, and continued through the day into the early evening hours. The storm system was not a classic storm system by any means. The system was totally devoid of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. Satellite pictures indicated a tropical plume of moisture sweeping into the storm, however surface and upper air observations indicated no feed of moisture in the low levels. The storm system was very dynamic, producing height falls of nearly 300 meters at 300 mbs, and over 150 meters at 500 mb. It was quite compact as well. The surface system was well defined, however the entire system weakened as it moved southeast. Starting in the northern Rockies, the surface low moved southeast across western Nebraska, through northeast Kansas, then across Missouri into the southern tip of Illinois. A large area of snow occurred north and east of the low pressure track. Heavy snowfall occurred in a relatively narrow area, with the snow intensity dropping off rapidly northeast of the heavy snow track. The heaviest snow fall over southwest Iowa, however heavy snow fall southwest of a Rockwell City, Dallas Center, to Lamoni line. Some of the heavier snowfall totals from the storm included Winterset with 7.5 inches, Creston , Lamoni, Mt. Ayr, Audubon, Greenfield and Guthrie Center with 8.0 inches, and Carroll and Glidden with 9.0 inches of new snow. Eight to nine inches of snow was reported over much of the west half of Guthrie County. Winds were a problem with the system due to the fluffy consistency of the snow. Southeast to east winds of 15 to 25 MPH and gusty were common during the storm, which caused considerable drifting of snow and some blowing snow. A few areas reported wind gusts over 35 MPH. Audubon for example had a wind gust of 36 MPH. Visibility was reduced to between 1/4 and 1/2 mile over the southwest third of Iowa for several hours. The Iowa D.O.T. was recommending no travel into the area for a few hours. The main problem was with icy roads. A period of warm weather had preceded the snowfall, thus the snow stuck to the roads and froze as the snowfall became heavier. There were numerous accidents through much of the southwest half of the state. Many schools and some activities were cut short or cancelled due to the ice. There were no major problems with the storm however.