Winter Storm in Iowa, January 6 to 7, 2010

Name: Winter Storm in Iowa, January 6 to 7, 2010
Start: 2010-01-06T15:00
End: 2010-01-07T23:55
Location: Iowa

January 6 to 7, 2010 · NWS DVN · 21 events in 21 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 21 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: 21

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 strong Alberta clipper dropped out of the northern Plains spreading snow across much of the region on January 6-7, 2010. Snow began across eastern Iowa during the afternoon of the 6th, before spreading east later in the evening. Snowfall amounts of 6 to 9 inches were common across much of eastern Iowa and northwest Illinois. However, accumulations were in the 2 to 5 inch range in southeast Iowa, western Illinois and extreme northeast Missouri. The highest total reported was 9.8 inches at Bertram in Linn county in eastern Iowa.

The system was mainly forced by the upper levels, where dynamics helped to organize the snow into heavier bands. With a weak surface reflection, winds were also relatively light during the snowfall. This, coupled with temperatures well below normal, yielded snow to liquid ratios in excess of 20:1, and in some cases greater than 25:1. The result was a light, fluffy, and very picturesque snow that piled up quickly. By the morning of the 7th, a dry slot had nosed into parts of the area south of Highway 34, bringing an end to accumulating snows until later in the day. This helped to hold final totals down across southeast Iowa, northeast Missouri and extreme western Illinois. With the system pulling off to the east later on the 7th, wrap around snows brought another inch or two of accumulations to some areas before tapering to flurries.

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 Jan 6, 3:14 AM CST, 11 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 6, 3:14 AM CST, 11 hours 46 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 6, 4:31 AM CST, 10 hours 29 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
431 AM CST WED JAN 6 2010

IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007-
009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-071045-
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-
431 AM CST WED JAN 6 2010

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 WINTER STORM IS POISED TO MOVE ACROSS THE OUTLOOK
AREA....BEGINNING LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING THROUGH
THURSDAY EVENING. SNOW IS EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THE AREA
THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THE SNOW WILL BE MODERATE TO
LOCALLY HEAVY AT TIMES TONIGHT...WITH A STORM TOTAL OF 5 TO 9
INCHES OF SNOW ACCUMULATION EXPECTED BY THURSDAY EVENING. THE
HEAVIEST SNOW AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR GENERALLY ALONG THE
HIGHWAY 30 CORRIDOR.

TWO AREA RIVERS ARE EXPERIENCING ICE JAM FLOODING. PLEASE
SEE THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENTS AND FLOOD WARNINGS FOR DETAILS.
FURTHER ICE JAM DEVELOPMENT REMAINS A THREAT ON TRIBUTARY RIVERS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW WILL CONTINUE THURSDAY. WINDS WILL INCREASE
TO 20 TO 30 MPH LATE THURSDAY MORNING AND CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY
EVENING. CONSIDERABLE DRIFTING SNOW WILL BE SEEN ALONG WITH BLOWING
SNOW IN OPEN AREAS.

THE SNOW WILL END FROM WEST TO EAST THURSDAY NIGHT. FALLING
TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WILL PRODUCE
DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS ALONG WITH DRIFTING AND BLOWING SNOW.

DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO FRIDAY MORNING.

DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 30 BELOW ZERO ARE LIKELY FRIDAY
NIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING.

THE THREAT OF ICE JAM DEVELOPMENT WILL CONTINUE ON SOME TRIBUTARY
RIVERS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. HOWEVER...
SPOTTER SNOWFALL REPORTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

21 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Jefferson

When: January 6, 3:00 PM CST to January 7, 11:55 PM CST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 41.032, -91.949 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Keokuk

When: January 6, 3:00 PM CST to January 7, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Keokuk forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 41.337, -92.179 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Van Buren

When: January 6, 3:00 PM CST to January 7, 11:55 PM CST
Where: Van Buren forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.753, -91.950 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Iowa

When: January 6, 3:30 PM CST to January 7, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Iowa forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 41.686, -92.065 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trained spotter measured 8.5 inches of snow near Parnell.

Winter Storm, Johnson

When: January 6, 3:30 PM CST to January 7, 11:30 PM CST
Where: Johnson forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 41.672, -91.588 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A CoCoRaHS observer measured 9.2 inches of snow at Solon.

Winter Storm, Muscatine

When: January 6, 3:45 PM CST to January 7, 9:45 PM CST
Where: Muscatine forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 41.484, -91.113 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Trained spotters reported 8.0 inches of snow near Muscatine, Nichols and Conesville.

Winter Storm, Henry

When: January 6, 4:00 PM CST to January 7, 11:30 PM CST
Where: Henry forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.988, -91.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Louisa

When: January 6, 4:00 PM CST to January 7, 10:30 PM CST
Where: Louisa forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 41.219, -91.260 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Buchanan

When: January 6, 4:30 PM CST to January 7, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Buchanan forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.471, -91.838 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A COOP observer measured 7.0 inches of snow at Independence.

Winter Storm, Des Moines

When: January 6, 4:45 PM CST to January 7, 11:45 PM CST
Where: Des Moines forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.923, -91.181 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Benton

When: January 6, 5:00 PM CST to January 7, 9:30 PM CST
Where: Benton forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 42.080, -92.066 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trained spotter measured 7.0 inches of snow near Atkins.

Winter Storm, Cedar

When: January 6, 5:00 PM CST to January 7, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Cedar forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 41.772, -91.132 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A COOP observer measured 6.6 inches of snow at Lowden.

Winter Storm, Linn

When: January 6, 5:00 PM CST to January 7, 11:00 PM CST
Where: Linn forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 42.079, -91.599 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trained spotter measured 9.8 inches of snow at Bertram and 7.0 inches at Cedar Rapids.

Winter Storm, Jones

When: January 6, 5:30 PM CST to January 7, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Jones forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 42.121, -91.131 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Washington

When: January 6, 5:30 PM CST to January 7, 10:30 PM CST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 41.336, -91.718 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A trained spotter measured 7.0 inches of snow at Wellman.

Winter Storm, Delaware

When: January 6, 6:00 PM CST to January 7, 8:00 PM CST
Where: Delaware forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 42.471, -91.367 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Scott

When: January 6, 6:40 PM CST to January 7, 6:15 PM CST
Where: Scott forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 41.637, -90.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

CoCoRaHS observers reported 8.5 inches of snow at Le Claire and 7.5 inches in Davenport.

Winter Storm, Clinton

When: January 6, 7:00 PM CST to January 7, 6:30 PM CST
Where: Clinton forecast zone
Reported by: CoCoRaHS
Coordinates: 41.898, -90.532 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A CoCoRaHS observer measured 8.6 inches of snow at Camanche.

Winter Storm, Jackson

When: January 6, 7:00 PM CST to January 7, 6:30 PM CST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.172, -90.574 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A COOP observer measured 6.5 inches of snow 4 miles west of Maquoketa.

Winter Storm, Lee

When: January 6, 7:00 PM CST to January 7, 11:55 PM CST
Where: Lee forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.642, -91.479 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dubuque

When: January 6, 7:15 PM CST to January 7, 7:45 PM CST
Where: Dubuque forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 42.469, -90.882 (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 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, January 2010

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: 204822, 204825, 204832, 204820, 204823, 204829, 204819, 204828, 204813, 204817, 204812, 204814, 204827, 204824, 204833, 204816, 204830, 204815, 204821, 204826, 204818.