Precipitation was frequent through the month. Storm systems bringing rain, freezing rain, sleet and/or snow came through the state nearly every other day through the 27th.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS DMX wrote it up.
Precipitation was frequent through the month. Storm systems bringing rain, freezing rain, sleet and/or snow came through the state nearly every other day through the 27th. The largest event of the month came on the 18th-19th with a statewide average of 4.7 inches of snow and 0.69 inches of precipitation. This mid-month storm brought heavy snow to northern Iowa with a band of 6 to 12 inches of snow stretching from near Sioux City east-northeastward into Wisconsin. The storm brought from one-quarter to two-thirds of an inch of freezing rain to south central and southeast Iowa. Other events brought several inches of snow on the 3rd, 8th-9th, 14th, 16th, 20th, 22nd-23rd, 24th and 27th. Snowfall was most frequent over northeastern Iowa where Waukon reported 34.9 inches of snow for the month. Parts of southwest Iowa recorded less snow than normal with only 3.5 inches falling at Glenwood. Monthly precipitation totals were about double normal over much of northern and eastern Iowa with Burlington reporting 4.20 inches. Overall this was the fourth snowiest December among 122 years of state snow records. A very deep and moisture-rich snow pack covered most of Iowa until very warm and humid air advanced across southern and eastern areas on the 26th and 27th. An intense low pressure lifted northeast through the region, drawing unseasonably to near record warm air north into Iowa, combined with dew points in the 50s. The airmass moved over the snow cover and quickly melted most of the southern Iowa snow cover and broke up the ice in many rivers. The rapid snow melt, supplemented by rainfall of up to an inch, and a few ice jams, brought flooding to many rivers across southeastern Iowa. Nevertheless, anywhere from 2 to 12 inches of snow remained on the ground at year’s end over the northern one-third of the state. For the most part, flooding was relatively minor and restricted to agricultural lands. One exception was in the Des Moines Metro area, where the Raccoon River closed roads and flooded several businesses.
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 Dec 26, 5:35 PM CST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 535 PM CST FRI DEC 26 2008 ...UPDATED 00Z AVIATION DISCUSSION... .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT FOG AND CLOUD TRENDS HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT TO HANDLE TODAY...WITH DRY SLOT ALOFT ABLE TO ERODE MOST OF THE FOG AS FAR NE AS FOD AND MIW. DENSE FOG HAS ALSO REAPPEARED ALONG MO BORDER INTO CHARITON WHERE MOISTURE IS A LITTLE DEEPER. FOG WILL LIKELY LAST IN FAR N AND NE UNTIL COLD FRONT COMES THROUGH ROUGHLY 03Z AT FOD...06Z AT DSM AND 07Z AT ALO. DESPITE EXTREMELY HIGH SURFACE DEWPOINTS...MOISTURE IS VERY SHALLOW AT THE MOMENT...SO BELIEVE NOW THAT THE FRONTAL PASSAGE WILL BE DRY UNTIL DEEPER MOISTURE BEGINS TO STREAM NWD AND A CHANCE OF CONVECTION ENTERS THE PICTURE. THIS APPEARS TO BE ROUGHLY SE OF CRESTON...DSM AND ALO AROUND MIDNIGHT AND CONTINUING INTO THE MORNING FOR THE SE. THUNDER IS ALSO POSSIBLE IN THIS ZONE WITH A QUARTER TO A HALF INCH OF QPF NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. CURRENT SATELLITE TRENDS SHOW A LOT OF BACKING FLOW ALOFT...SIGNIFYING AMPLIFICATION...SO HAVE INCREASED THE QPF AMOUNTS SOUTHEAST OF KNOXVILLE TOWARD MORNING. A HALF INCH OR MORE IS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION IN A SW TO NE BAND...BUT IT APPEARS THE 18Z NAM IS OVERDONE GIVEN THE DEGREE OF INSTABILITY. AFTER TODAYS SNOWMELT...A QUICK PULSE OF RAIN COULD PUT A BUMP IN STREAMS AND EVEN RIVERS. CURRENT THINKING IS THAT ICE IS NOT THICK ENOUGH TO CAUSE BLOCKAGE...BUT THIS WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED. GOOD NEWS IS THAT TEMPS WILL NOT FALL ENOUGH FOR A FREEZING RAIN THREAT ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE PRECIP BAND...BUT COULD BE A BIT OF LIGHT FREEZING LATE. .LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH FRIDAY UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING THE PRECIPITATION FORECAST SATURDAY INTO SATURDAY NIGHT...WITH SOME DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN THE NAM/GFS/EC THROUGH THE FIRST FEW PERIODS OF THE MID RANGE. GFS ADVERTISING A MERGING ON THE WAVE TRAVELING THROUGH THE DAKOTAS WITH THE SYSTEM LIFTING OUT OF THE ROCKIES TODAY...DEEPENING THE LOW AS IT LIFTS OUT AND ADVERTISING SOME DEF ZONE SNOW ACROSS THE CWA LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON INTO SATURDAY NIGHT. EC/NAM DO NOT DEEPEN THE LOW AS MUCH AS IT LIFTS OUT...AND THUS KEEP MAJORITY OF THE PRECIP ASSOCIATED ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT THAT MOVES THROUGH THE CWA LATE TONIGHT/SATURDAY...WITH A WEAK DEF ZONE AREA SITUATED FURTHER EAST THAN THE GFS. FOR NOW TRENDED TOWARD A BLEND OF THE SOLUTIONS...WITH THE GUIDANCE SUGGESTING A TREND TOWARD THE GFS/EC SOLUTIONS. LATEST NAM THOUGH TRENDING SOMEWHAT FURTHER WEST TOWARD THE GFS SOLUTION. EITHER WAY...THESE DISCREPANCIES LEAD TO UNCERTAINTY IN THE AMOUNT/PLACEMENT OF THE PRECIPITATION. FOR NOW HAVE THE HIGHEST POPS ACROSS THE EASTERN CWA...WHERE EC/NAM LINE UP DEF ZONE PRECIP BETTER AS MAIN UPPER LEVEL WAVE MOVES OVERHEAD SATURDAY NIGHT. PRECIP TYPE TRICKY AS WELL...WITH SOME MIXED PRECIPITATION EXPECTED AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH WITH A CHANGEOVER TO SNOW FOR SATURDAY NIGHT. DEPTH OF THE NEAR SURFACE COLD LAYER QUITE SHALLOW...SO MIXED PRECIP TYPE LEANING TOWARD FZRA ATTM. IN AREA OF BEST LIFT JUST AHEAD AND ALONG THE FRONT...SFC TEMPERATURES SHOULD STILL BE ABOVE FREEZING SO ANTICIPATE RAIN. TRICKY PART COMES TOWARD LATE AFTERNOON AS PRECIP STARTS TO WANE ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN CWA...AND TEMPERATURE DIPS NEAR FREEZING OR JUST BELOW. DEPENDING ON SFC TEMPS...MAY SEE SOME ICE ACCUMULATIONS APPROACHING A TENTH TO TWO TENTHS OF AN INCH IF COLDER AIR MOVES IN FASTER. OTHERWISE HARD TO NAIL DOWN PRECIP AMOUNT SATURDAY NIGHT...BUT FOR NOW MAY SEE ACCUMULATING SNOWS ON THE ORDER OF AN ONE TO THREE INCHES ACROSS THE FAR EASTERN CWA. PRECIP THEN LIFTS OUT OF THE AREA LATE SATURDAY NIGHT WITH WAA KICKING IN BACK TO THE WEST AS ZONAL FLOW SETS UP ALOFT. THIS WILL KEEP THE COLD ARCTIC AIR WELL TO THE NORTH...AS WELL AS ANY PRECIPITATION. THEREFORE DRY CONDITIONS AND NEAR AVERAGE TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES EXPECTED THROUGH MID WEEK. BROAD TROUGHINESS BEGINS TO DEVELOP THROUGHOUT THE CENTRAL US AS AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH DROPS SOUTHWARD FROM THE PAC NW THROUGH THE AREA THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. THIS WILL ALLOW MOISTURE TO FLOW NORTHWARD INTO THE AREA FROM THE GULF...WITH AN AREA OF SURFACE LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING OVER THE CENTRAL/NRN PLAINS THURSDAY. THIS WILL BRING PRECIPITATION CHANCES BACK INTO THE FORECAST FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW YEAR. AT THIS TIME TEMPERATURES LOOK COLD ENOUGH FOR PRECIPITATION TO REMAIN SNOW. .AVIATION...27/00Z SHALLOW MOIST LAYER WILL CONTINUE TO PLAY HAVOC ON TERMINALS OVERNIGHT. CIGS AND VSBYS BEGINNING TO LOWER BACK TO THE SOUTHWEST INTO AREA PREVIOUSLY OCCUPIED BY DRY SLOT. EXPECT THIS TREND TO CONTINUE UNTIL FROPA OVERNIGHT WITH VSBYS RISING TO MVFR THOUGH CIGS MAY REMAIN IFR FOR MUCH OF THE PERIOD. SOME PRECIPITATION EXPECTED TO DEVELOP LATER TONIGHT ALONG AND BEHIND BOUNDARY WITH SOME CONVECTION POSSIBLE VICINITY OF OTTUMWA. SOME DIFFERENCES ON SNOW CHANCES BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON OVER NORTHWEST TAF SITES (ALO/MCW/FOD). WILL NEED TO WATCH FOR FZRA CHANCES NEAR DSM AND OTM. && .DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... DENSE FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 1 AM CST SATURDAY FOR BLACK HAWK-BREMER- BUTLER-CERRO GORDO-EMMET-FRANKLIN-GRUNDY-HAMILTON-HANCOCK-HARDIN- HUMBOLDT-KOSSUTH-MARSHALL-PALO ALTO-POCAHONTAS-POWESHIEK-TAMA- WINNEBAGO-WORTH-WRIGHT. && SHORT TERM...JUNGBLUTH LONG TERM...ALBRECHT AVIATION...DONAVON
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA 544 PM CST FRI DEC 26 2008 IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-034>039-046>050-059>062-272345- EMMET-KOSSUTH-WINNEBAGO-WORTH-PALO ALTO-HANCOCK-CERRO GORDO- POCAHONTAS-HUMBOLDT-WRIGHT-FRANKLIN-BUTLER-BREMER-CALHOUN-WEBSTER- HAMILTON-HARDIN-GRUNDY-BLACK HAWK-GREENE-BOONE-STORY-MARSHALL- TAMA-DALLAS-POLK-JASPER-POWESHIEK- 544 PM CST FRI DEC 26 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT WIDESPREAD DENSE FOG WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. A DENSE FOG ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH 1 AM TONIGHT. PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES FOR FURTHER DETAILS. THERE IS ALSO A CHANCE FOR SOME LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA WHERE TEMPERATURES DIP BELOW FREEZING LATE TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A WINTRY MIX OF FREEZING RAIN...SLEET AND SNOW IS EXPECTED DURING THE DAY SATURDAY...WITH PRECIPITATION CHANGING OVER TO ALL SNOW BY SATURDAY NIGHT. SNOW...SLEET OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED...BUT WILL REMAIN LIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED...BUT REPORTS OF SNOW AND ICE AMOUNTS ARE ENCOURAGED. IAZ033-044-045-057-058-070>075-081>086-092>097-272345- SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-WARREN- MARION-MAHASKA-ADAMS-UNION-CLARKE-LUCAS-MONROE-WAPELLO-TAYLOR- RINGGOLD-DECATUR-WAYNE-APPANOOSE-DAVIS- 544 PM CST FRI DEC 26 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL IOWA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT ISOLATED NON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL IOWA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A WINTRY MIX OF FREEZING RAIN...SLEET AND SNOW IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA SATURDAY. PRECIPITATION WILL CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW BY SATURDAY NIGHT. LIGHT SNOW...SLEET AND ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED...BUT REPORTS OF SNOW AND ICE AMOUNTS ARE ENCOURAGED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, December 2008
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: 140008, 140009, 140010, 140013, 140011, 140012.