Winter Storm in Iowa, February 17 to 18, 2000

The same storm mentioned in the narrative above produced heavy snow across much of central and parts of northern Iowa. The thunderstorms that were over southern Iowa moved northeast, with the precipitation changing over to snow in central Iowa. Bands of snow lifted northeast across the area through the night. As the storm system matured, the dry slot swept out of the southern Plains into Illinois. A deformation zone set up along the northwest edge of the dry slot with heavy snow setting up in a band from west central into northeast Iowa. Snow fell at the rate of one to two inches an hour for a period of time. Snowfall in the area was generally in the 6 to 9 inch range. The heaviest snow fell in a band about 30 miles wide extending from near Boone, east-northeast to just south of Waterloo. Numerous reports of 8.5 to 9 inches of snow were received from this area. The heaviest snowfall total came from Boone with 10 inches. An official report from Ames came in at 9 inches. Late in the storms life cycle, snow sank south and moved into southern Iowa. A few areas west of Ottumwa to near Albia received a total of 6 to 7 inches of snow during a 21 hour period. The later areas were most affected by the ice storm mentioned above however. Fortunately, this storm system was not a typical February snowstorm. Northeast to north winds of 15 to 25 MPH caused some blowing and drifting snow, however this did not cause major problems. Most schools and some businesses either closed or started late due to the snow. Though there was some disruption, by Iowa standards the storm was not a major event. Damage was limited from the storm. Though the snow was very wet and heavy, amounts were not great enough to cause major damage dow to loading.