Heavy Snow in Iowa, January 13 to 14, 2009

Name: Heavy Snow in Iowa, January 13 to 14, 2009
Start: 2009-01-13T19:00
End: 2009-01-14T08:00
Location: Iowa

January 13 to 14, 2009 · NWS DMX · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

S. with Arctic high pressure to the northwest and developing low pressure to the west of Iowa.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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: 6

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 thermal contrast was in place across the central U.S. with Arctic high pressure to the northwest and developing low pressure to the west of Iowa. The low pressure was an Alberta Clipper type system that advanced southeast through South Dakota, across southwest Iowa by around midnight, and into west central Illinois by daybreak on the 14th. A band of snow developed in the strong warm air advection zone northeast of the low pressure track. Temperatures in this area were in the single digits and the snow fell with snow ratios in the 15:1 to 20:1 range. During the height of the event, snow fell at the rate of nearly one inch per hour. For the most part snowfall was in the 3 to 5 inch range across the northeast half of Iowa. There were a few areas of heavier snow, mainly in the Waterloo area, and also in the northern tier of counties between Mason City and Algona. In the latter area, spotty 6 inch snowfall amounts were received from Winnebago and Kossuth Counties. An area of 6 to 8 inch snowfall occurred in the Waterloo area. Some of the heavier reports included 8.5 inches in Butler County at Parkersburg and also in Cedar Falls in Black Hawk County, 8 inches in Black Hawk County at Dunkerton and 7.5 inches at La Porte City. Seven and one half inches was also reported in Bremer County at Waverly. Roads became slippery with numerous accidents reported, however no road closures occurred. With the snow being of such light consistency, it was fortunate that wind speeds were generally under 20 MPH during the event, resulting in drifting and patchy blowing snow.

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 13, 5:50 PM CST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 13, 5:50 PM CST, 1 hour 10 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 13, 3:12 PM CST, 3 hours 48 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
312 PM CST TUE JAN 13 2009

IAZ004>007-015>017-023>028-033>039-046>050-059>062-074-075-086-
142115-
EMMET-KOSSUTH-WINNEBAGO-WORTH-PALO ALTO-HANCOCK-CERRO GORDO-
POCAHONTAS-HUMBOLDT-WRIGHT-FRANKLIN-BUTLER-BREMER-SAC-CALHOUN-
WEBSTER-HAMILTON-HARDIN-GRUNDY-BLACK HAWK-GREENE-BOONE-STORY-
MARSHALL-TAMA-DALLAS-POLK-JASPER-POWESHIEK-MARION-MAHASKA-WAPELLO-
312 PM CST TUE JAN 13 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A PORTION OF CENTRAL IOWA
MAINLY NORTHEAST OF A LINE FROM SAC CITY TO OTTUMWA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

LIGHT SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD THE OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH EARLY EVENING.
SNOW WILL FALL IN EARNEST LATER THIS EVENING THROUGH MUCH OF THE
OVERNIGHT. NEW SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES WITH LOCAL 6 INCH
AMOUNTS ARE LIKELY. A NORTHWEST WIND WILL ALSO INCREASE LATER
TONIGHT TO 15 TO 25 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS.

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA TONIGHT.
PLEASE REFER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEBSITE AT
WEATHER.GOV/DESMOINES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILLS WILL TAKE OVER THE AREA
ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. TEMPERATURES AT NIGHT WILL RANGE FROM 5
TO 20 BELOW ZERO. A NORTHWEST WIND AT 20 TO 35 MPH WITH HIGHER
GUSTS ARE LIKELY BUT WILL DIMINISH THROUGH THE DAY WEDNESDAY. WIND
CHILL INDICES FROM 25 TO 35 BELOW ARE POSSIBLE. ADDITIONAL SNOW
CHANCES WILL ARRIVE ON FRIDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED...HOWEVER THE REPORTING OF
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

IAZ044-045-057-058-070>073-081>085-092>097-142115-
CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-WARREN-ADAMS-
UNION-CLARKE-LUCAS-MONROE-TAYLOR-RINGGOLD-DECATUR-WAYNE-APPANOOSE-
DAVIS-
312 PM CST TUE JAN 13 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A PORTION OF CENTRAL IOWA
MAINLY SOUTHWEST OF A LINE FROM SAC CITY TO OTTUMWA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

LIGHT SNOW WILL OVERSPREAD THE OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH EARLY EVENING.
THE SNOW WILL CONTINUE TO FALL THROUGH MIDNIGHT BEFORE BEGINNING
TO TAPER OFF. NEW SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE LIKELY. A
NORTHWEST WIND WILL ALSO INCREASE LATER TONIGHT TO 15 TO 25 MPH
WITH HIGHER GUSTS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES AND WIND CHILLS WILL TAKE OVER THE AREA
ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. TEMPERATURES AT NIGHT WILL RANGE FROM 5
TO 20 BELOW ZERO. A NORTHWEST WIND AT 20 TO 35 MPH WITH HIGHER
GUSTS ARE LIKELY BUT WILL DIMINISH THROUGH THE DAY WEDNESDAY. WIND
CHILL INDICES FROM 25 TO 35 BELOW ARE POSSIBLE. ADDITIONAL SNOW
CHANCES WILL ARRIVE ON FRIDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED...HOWEVER THE REPORTING OF
SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

FAB

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Black Hawk

When: January 13, 7:00 PM CST to January 14, 8:00 AM CST
Where: Black Hawk forecast zone
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 42.470, -92.309 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Bremer

When: January 13, 7:00 PM CST to January 14, 8:00 AM CST
Where: Bremer forecast zone
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 42.775, -92.318 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Butler

When: January 13, 7:00 PM CST to January 14, 8:00 AM CST
Where: Butler forecast zone
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 42.732, -92.790 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Grundy

When: January 13, 7:00 PM CST to January 14, 8:00 AM CST
Where: Grundy forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.402, -92.791 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Kossuth

When: January 13, 7:00 PM CST to January 14, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Kossuth forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.204, -94.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Winnebago

When: January 13, 7:00 PM CST to January 14, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Winnebago forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.378, -93.734 (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 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, January 2009

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 140885, 140886, 140888, 140889, 140890, 140891.