Ice Storm in Iowa, January 29, 2001

Name: Ice Storm in Iowa, January 29, 2001
Start: 2001-01-29T05:00
End: 2001-01-29T19:00
Location: Iowa

January 29, 2001 · NWS DMX · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

S. and moved northeast into Iowa.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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: $225,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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 DMX wrote it up.

A strong low pressure system formed over the southwest U.S. and moved northeast into Iowa. Though there was not a great deal of cold air in the environment, there was a shallow layer of sub-freezing air over Iowa. Initially, temperatures were cool enough for the precipitation to fall as light snow. Most of the state received from one to five inches of snow during the afternoon and evening of the 28th. During the night, warm air moved in aloft. As the next round of precipitation began, it fell in the form of freezing rain. All of Iowa received significant ice from this. Ice accretion rates were between 5 and 10 hundredths of an inch per hours. The shallow cold air eroded over the southeast and central sections of the state by late morning, changing the freezing rain to rain. This limited the accumulation of ice to under one quarter of an inch. Over far north central into west central Iowa, temperatures at the surface failed to warm above freezing. Freezing rain continued through the afternoon with several areas reporting one quarter to one half inch of ice accumulation on trees and power lines. Damage was minor as there was little wind with this event. Spotty power outages were reported and some tree limbs were downed. Nearly all schools in the state and many businesses closed their doors in anticipation of the storm. Travel was difficult through the morning and early afternoon hours. There was some improvement with the daylight and treatment of the roads. Freezing rain changed to snow during the evening hours, however accumulation of snow as generally under 3 inches.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Des Moines, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 29, 3:17 AM CST, 1 hour 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 3:17 AM CST, 1 hour 43 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
317 AM CST MON JAN 29 2001

ANOTHER TOUGH FCST TDA WITH SGFNT WX STORM UNDERWAY.  MOST DIFFICULT
ASPECT THERMAL STRUCTURE OF AMS.  MDLS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH
PLACEMENT AND MAGNITUDE OF CURRENT PCPN AND EVOLUTION THROUGHOUT THE
DAY.  QUESTION WL NOT BE WHERE THERE WL BE PCPN...BUT PCPN TYPE AND
ASSOCD HEADLINES.  STLT/RADAR DATA SHOW IMPRESSIVE FETCH OF MSTR
STREAMING NWD FM OK INTO SERN IA.  EXTRAPOLATION OF LEADING EDGE OF
PCPN FM KEAX RADAR BRINGS IT INTO SRN IA ARND 10Z...AND TO KDSM
VCNTY NR 12Z.  XPC LTL CHG IN TEMPS BY THAT TIME SO XCP FOR FAR SRN
IA WHICH WL BE MARGINAL...SGFNT SLEET OR FRZG RAIN EVENT SHOULD BE
UNDERWAY JUST IN TIME FOR MRNG COMMUTE.  08 SFC ANLYS PLACES
INVERTED TROF CNTR ALG OK/AR BORDER.  PRES FALL CNTR STILL JUST E OF
LOW BUT AXIS IS EXPANDING NWD AS MDLS DEPICT 12-18Z.

BY THIS AFTN TEMPS MAY CHG ENOUGH WHERE SERN SXNS COULD BE SPARED
WITH READINGS ABV FRZG.  SYS CONTS TO BE PULLED NW RUN TO RUN AND
ETA HAS BEEN THE FARTHER NW PAST FEW RUNS.  IT SEEMS TO HAVE GOOD
HANDLE ON CURRENT WX AND SHOULD HANDLE TEMPS BEST SO WL BE MDL OF
CHOICE TDA.  295K NET ISENT OMEGA AND MSTR TRANSPORT BRINGS MSTR
FETCH WELL INTO IA TIL THIS AFTN WHEN SYS BGNS TO WRAP UP.  QG
FORCING AND UVM THEN INCRS ACRS NWRN IA WITH MSTR TRANSPORT PULLING
NWWD INTO DVLPG DEFORMATION ZN.  XPC PEAK OF UVM 21Z-03Z WHEN UPR
LVL DVRGNC...QG FORCING...MDL OMEGA AND ISENT LIFT ALL MAXIMIZED.
JUDGING BY A FEW FCST SOUNDINGS...NOSE OF WRMR AIR CNTRD 800-750MB
AND PLAN VIEW OF THIS LYR AND BNDRY LYR TEMPS INDC ICE THEN RAIN S
CNTRL/SERN SXNS...ICE THRU MUCH OF DAY CNTRL SXNS...AND MIX CHGG TO
ALL SNW WRN PTNS.  ETA 24Z QPF ENDING AT 06Z TUE POINTS TWRD ICE
ACCUMULATIONS APCH INCH IN LOCATIONS STAYING AOB FRZG.  QPF AND
GARCIA METHOD WITH GOOD FORCING POINTS TO 6 TO 12 INCHES SNW NWRN
QUARTER OF FA.  COULD LCLLY SEE AMTS EXCEED A FT NWRN SXNS AS H85/H7
FRONTOGENESIS AND ASSOCD QN FORCING INTENSIFY LATE TDA.  DEFORMATION
ZN THEN LIFTS NWWD INTO SD AND MN LATE.  SEE HEADLINES BLO.

NOT MUCH TIME SPENT ON TEMPS AGN.  GUID SIMILAR BUT JUDGING FM
CURRENT OBS FWCS END UP BEING TOO COOL SO WL FAVOR AVN MOS NUMBERS
THRU PD.

COORDINATION W/FSD...DVN...ARX...OAX...EAX.

.DSM...ICE STORM WRNG THIS MRNG GENERALLY ALG S OF KCSQ-KOXV LN
       ICE STORM WRNG TDA KDSM METRO TWRD KCAV-KALO
       WINTER STORM WRNG TDA KADU-KAIO S TO MO BORDER
       WINTER STORM WRNG TDA AND TNGT GENERALLY FM KDNS/KCIN TO
        KEST/KAXA/KMCW

SMALL

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Ice Storm, Calhoun

When: January 29, 5:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Calhoun forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.385, -94.640 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Carroll

When: January 29, 5:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Carroll forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.036, -94.861 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Crawford

When: January 29, 5:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Crawford forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.037, -95.382 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Emmet

When: January 29, 5:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Emmet forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.378, -94.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Humboldt

When: January 29, 5:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Humboldt forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.777, -94.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Kossuth

When: January 29, 5:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Kossuth forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.204, -94.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Palo Alto

When: January 29, 5:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Palo Alto forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 43.082, -94.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Pocahontas

When: January 29, 5:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Pocahontas forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.734, -94.679 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ice Storm, Sac

When: January 29, 5:00 AM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Sac forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 42.386, -95.105 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Ice Storm: Freezing rain accumulating a quarter inch or more of ice, or less where it caused significant damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, January 2001

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: 5228505, 5228733, 5228734, 5228735, 5228736, 5228737, 5228738, 5228739, 5228740.