Winter Storm in Iowa, January 21 to 22, 2005

Name: Winter Storm in Iowa, January 21 to 22, 2005
Start: 2005-01-21T12:00
End: 2005-01-22T12:00
Location: Iowa

January 21 to 22, 2005 · NWS ARX · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

Heavy snowfall amounts of 6 to 10 inches were common across northeast Iowa, as a winter storm affected the area. 0 inches at Cresco (Howard County).

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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: 8

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 ARX wrote it up.

Heavy snowfall amounts of 6 to 10 inches were common across northeast Iowa, as a winter storm affected the area. Some of the higher amounts reported by weather observers included 10.2 inches and 10.0 inches respectively at Waukon and Lansing (Allamakee County), 8.5 inches at Farmersburg (Clayton County) and 8.0 inches at Cresco (Howard County).

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 La Crosse, WI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 21, 3:20 AM CST, 8 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 3:20 AM CST, 8 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
320 AM CST FRI JAN 21 2005

.SHORT TERM...THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT

PRIMARY FORECAST CHALLENGES WERE ASSOCIATED WITH THE WINTER STORM
THIS AFTERNOON INTO SATURDAY MORNING. CONCERNS WERE CENTERED MOSTLY
ON SNOWFALL AMOUNTS...THEN STRONG WINDS ON BACKSIDE OF THE SYSTEM.

EARLY MORNING SURFACE ANALYSIS HAD HIGH PRESSURE NORTH OF THE GREAT
LAKES...WHILE LOW PRESSURE WAS ADVANCING INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES.
IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATED SHORT WAVE
MOVING TOWARD LAKE WINNIPEG...AS ANOTHER SHORT WAVE WAS CROSSING
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. RADAR LOOP FROM KMVX AND KABR INDICATED WHAT
APPEARS TO BE A BAND OF SNOW DEVELOPING FROM WEST CENTRAL MN INTO
CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA ASSOCIATED WITH MID LEVEL FRONTOGENETIC
FORCING ESTABLISHING ITSELF AHEAD OF APPROACHING WAVE.

00Z JANUARY 21ST GFS AND ETA WERE IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH
SURFACE AND UPPER LEVEL FEATURES ASSOCIATED WITH VIGOROUS SYSTEM TO
MOVE THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA DURING NEXT 24-36HRS. BY 72HRS...THE
ETA AND GFS DIFFERED SIGNIFICANTLY ON 850MB TEMPERATURE STRUCTURE
WITH NEXT WAVE. THE ETA HAD READINGS RISING TO 1C-3C BY 00Z
MONDAY...WHILE GFS FOR SAME TIME FRAME HAD VALUES OF 0C-MINUS 3C.
IMPACT ON THE FORECAST WILL BE NECESSITY TO INTRODUCE PRECIPITATION
ON SUNDAY IN NORTH CENTRAL AND CENTRAL WI...AS WELL AS QUESTION OF
PRECIPITATION TYPE.

TODAY INTO THIS EVENING...CONFIDENCE HIGH THAT HEAVY SNOWFALL EVENT
WILL OCCUR. TIME/HEIGHT CROSS SECTIONS INDICATED IMPRESSIVE LARGE
SCALE ASCENT MAXIMIZES OVER THE FORECAST AREA BETWEEN 18Z-06Z.
DENDRITIC SNOW CRYSTAL GROWTH SHOULD BE MAXIMIZED IN THIS TIME FRAME
AS MINUS 15C ISOTHERM SHOULD BE JUXTAPOSED WITH STRONGEST UPWARD
VERTICAL MOTIONS. OTHER FORCING PARAMETERS WHICH POINT TO HEAVY
SNOWFALL WERE 300MB UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE...ALONG WITH DEEP Q-G
CONVERGENCE. MOISTURE CERTAINLY NOT A PROBLEM...WITH MIXING RATIO OF
3-4G/KG AND STRONG ISENTROPIC LIFT IN THE 280K-290K LAYER. TOTAL
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES APPEAR REASONABLE.

LATE TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING...Q-G CONVERGENCE SUGGESTS AN
ABATEMENT OF THIS FORCING BETWEEN 06Z-12Z...WHICH SHOULD CAUSE THE
SNOW TO TAPER OFF. IN ADDITION AND MORE IMPORTANTLY...PRESSURE
GRADIENT TIGHTENS CONSIDERABLY FROM 06Z-18Z. RESULT SHOULD BE STRONG
NORTHERLY WINDS...ESPECIALLY OVER THE FLAT TERRAIN OF SOUTHEAST MN
AND NORTHEAST MN. IN FACT...WIND GUSTS IN THESE LOCATIONS COULD
REACH AS HIGH AS 40 MPH. THIS FACT COMBINED WITH FRESH SNOW COVER
MAY RESULT IN BLIZZARD-LIKE CONDITIONS FOR THE AFOREMENTIONED
LOCATIONS...AS WELL AS THE RIDGETOPS OF SOUTHWEST WI.

BASED ON EXPECTED HEAVY SNOWFALL...ALONG WITH STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS
ON THE TAIL END OF THIS SYSTEM INTO SATURDAY AFTERNOON...WE WILL
ISSUE A WINTER STORM WARNING EFFECTIVE FROM 18Z TODAY THROUGH 21Z
SATURDAY.

SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT...GFS AND ETA BOTH INDICATED ANOTHER WAVE
WILL MOVE ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES. THERE APPEARS TO BE STRONG WARM
AIR ADVECTION AND DECENT Q-G CONVERGENCE TO PRODUCE LIGHT QPF
GENERALLY OVER PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL AND CENTRAL WI. AS
MENTIONED EARLIER...PRECIPITATION TYPE COULD BE A FACTOR IF ETA
VERIFIES. AT THIS TIME...CHOSE TO LET SUBSEQUENT FORECASTS ADDRESS
DETAILS RELATED TO THIS SYSTEM AS CONFIDENCE NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO
EFFECT ANY CHANGES TO DATA BASE AT THIS TIME.

.LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

OVERALL UPWARD TREND IN TEMPERATURES EXPECTED THIS PERIOD AS STORM
TRACK SHIFTS FURTHER NORTHWARD. CURRENT DATA BASE REFLECTED THIS
WELL...SO THERE WERE NO CHANGES MADE.

&&

.ARX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
WI...WINTER STORM WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 3 PM SATURDAY
     WIZ017-WIZ029-WIZ032-WIZ033-WIZ034-WIZ041-WIZ042
     WIZ043-WIZ044-WIZ053-WIZ054-WIZ055-WIZ061.
MN...WINTER STORM WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 3 PM SATURDAY
     MNZ079-MNZ086-MNZ087-MNZ088-MNZ094-MNZ095-MNZ096.
IA...WINTER STORM WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 3 PM SATURDAY
     IAZ008-IAZ009-IAZ010-IAZ011-IAZ018-IAZ019-IAZ029-IAZ030.

&&

THOMPSON

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 21, 11:38 AM CST, 22 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Mitchell

When: January 21, 12:00 PM CST to January 22, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Mitchell forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.356, -92.789 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Howard

When: January 21, 12:00 PM CST to January 22, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Howard forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.357, -92.317 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Floyd

When: January 21, 12:00 PM CST to January 22, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Floyd forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.060, -92.789 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Chickasaw

When: January 21, 12:00 PM CST to January 22, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Chickasaw forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.060, -92.318 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Winneshiek

When: January 21, 12:00 PM CST to January 22, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Winneshiek forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.291, -91.844 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Fayette

When: January 21, 12:00 PM CST to January 22, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Fayette forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.863, -91.844 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Allamakee

When: January 21, 12:00 PM CST to January 22, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Allamakee forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 43.284, -91.378 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Clayton

When: January 21, 12:00 PM CST to January 22, 12:00 PM CST
Where: Clayton forecast zone
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 42.845, -91.341 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

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, January 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5433574, 5433575, 5433576, 5433577, 5433578, 5433579, 5433580, 5433581.