Heavy Snow in Iowa, December 14, 2005

Name: Heavy Snow in Iowa, December 14, 2005
Start: 2005-12-14T08:30
End: 2005-12-14T09:30
Location: Iowa

December 14, 2005 · NWS DVN · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A winter storm moved from the Plains into the Upper Midwest from 13 December to 14 December 2005. Snowfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches were common north of Interstate 80 in both Iowa and Illinois.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: 1

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.

A winter storm moved from the Plains into the Upper Midwest from 13 December to 14 December 2005. Snowfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches were common north of Interstate 80 in both Iowa and Illinois. In the Iowa City/Coralville area, snow began around 2300 CST 13 December and ended the following afternoon. A narrow mesoscale band of heavy snow fell across northern Johnson County. A spotter 2 miles north of Coralville measured 6 inches of snow between 2300 CST 13 December and 0930 CST 14 December.

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 Quad Cities, IA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 13, 3:05 PM CST, 17 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 13, 3:05 PM CST, 17 hours 25 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Johnson

When: December 14, 8:30 AM CST to 9:30 AM CST
Where: Johnson forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.672, -91.588 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, December 2005

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: 5485131.