Low pressure in Kansas brought warmer south winds over a dome of arctic air presiding across the region. As the low tracked along the Iowa/Missouri border and to near Chicago, an optimum over-running situation developed.
Every event with a place to put it; 13 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 DVN wrote it up.
Low pressure in Kansas brought warmer south winds over a dome of arctic air presiding across the region. As the low tracked along the Iowa/Missouri border and to near Chicago, an optimum over-running situation developed. The storm system was a slow mover, allowing for several episodes of fluffy snow, January 20-22, 2008. Over this 2-day period, snowfall amounts ranged from 3 to 9 inches along and north of Interstate 80. An indirect fatality occurred on January 21 in Benton county on snow-covered I-380 in a multi-vehicle accident.
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 Jan 20, 2:50 PM CST, 7 hours 10 minutes earlier.
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</html>HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 507 AM CST SUN JAN 20 2008 IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-211115- BUCHANAN-DELAWARE-DUBUQUE-BENTON-LINN-JONES-JACKSON-IOWA-JOHNSON- CEDAR-CLINTON-MUSCATINE-SCOTT-KEOKUK-WASHINGTON-LOUISA-JEFFERSON- HENRY IA-DES MOINES-VAN BUREN-LEE-JO DAVIESS-STEPHENSON-CARROLL- WHITESIDE-ROCK ISLAND-HENRY IL-BUREAU-PUTNAM-MERCER-HENDERSON- WARREN-HANCOCK-MCDONOUGH-SCOTLAND-CLARK- 507 AM CST SUN JAN 20 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS...NORTHWEST ILLINOIS...WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST CENTRAL IOWA...NORTHEAST IOWA...SOUTHEAST IOWA AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR AREAS NORTH OF HIGHWAY 34. WIND CHILLS WILL REMAIN BETWEEN 20 TO 30 BELOW ZERO THROUGH THE MORNING AS TEMPERATURES FALL INTO THE TEENS BELOW ZERO. DECREASING WINDS AND INCREASING TEMPERATURES FROM LATE MORNING ONWARD WILL ALLOW WIND CHILLS TO RISE ABOVE 20 BELOW ZERO...BUT TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BITTERLY COLD THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY. A PROLONGED PERIOD OF SNOW WILL BEGIN IN THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS TODAY. SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD THE AREA FROM SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST LATER TODAY...FOLLOWED BY A LULL IN THE LATE OVERNIGHT HOURS TONIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE EXPECTED BY DAYBREAK NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM FAIRFIELD TO DUBUQUE IOWA...WITH ACCUMULATIONS UP TO AN INCH SOUTHEAST OF THAT LINE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY A BAND OF SNOW WILL LIFT NORTH ACROSS AREAS ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80 MONDAY MORNING...WITH AN ADDITIONAL INCH OF ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE NORTH OF HIGHWAY 30. MORE SNOW IS THEN EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THE OUTLOOK AREA MONDAY AFTERNOON AND MONDAY NIGHT. CURRENT INDICATIONS SUGGEST THAT STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS FROM THE TWO DAY PERIOD ENDING TUESDAY MORNING COULD BE IN THE RANGE OF 3 TO 6 INCHES OVER PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST IOWA AND NORTHWEST ILLINOIS ROUGHLY NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM WASHINGTON IOWA TO FREEPORT ILLINOIS...WITH 1 TO 3 INCHES POSSIBLE OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE OUTLOOK AREA. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW...INCREASING NORTHWEST WINDS MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING WILL LIKELY PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...ALONG WITH BITTER COLD WIND CHILLS IN THE RANGE OF AROUND 5 BELOW TO 20 BELOW ZERO. A CLIPPER SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO DIVE DOWN ACROSS THE UPPER MIDWEST AND GREAT LAKES ON WEDNESDAY AND WILL BRING THE CHANCE FOR SNOW SHOWERS WITH LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS OF LESS THAN AN INCH. THERE IS ANOTHER CHANCE OF SNOW LATE WEEK INTO EARLY NEXT WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT...BUT SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CONTACT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WITH SNOWFALL REPORTS. MAYES/MCCLURE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
13 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter measured 7.5 inches of snow at Mount Auburn. According to Radio Iowa, an indirect fatality occurred on snow covered I-380 near the Urbana exit in Benton county at around 10 pm. A 82 year old male was killed in a multi-vehicle accident.
A trained spotter measured 8.0 inches of snow at Anamosa.
The National Weather Service office at the Mt. Joy Airport in Davenport measured 5.0 inches of snow.
A trained spotter reported 7.5 inches of snow 5 miles east of Cedar Rapids.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather, Benton | 2008-01-21 | 82 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
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, January 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 75243, 75244, 75254, 75249, 75252, 75250, 75258, 75256, 75245, 75246, 75247, 75248, 75257.