Light freezing rain during the night of January 16th into the morning of January 17th caused icy roads and walking surfaces. Temperatures warmed enough to change the precipitation to light rain by late morning.
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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 FSD wrote it up.
Light freezing rain during the night of January 16th into the morning of January 17th caused icy roads and walking surfaces. Temperatures warmed enough to change the precipitation to light rain by late morning.
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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 16, 8:45 PM CST, 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION FOR SOUTHEAST SD/SOUTHWEST MN/NORTHWEST IA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 845 PM CST SUN JAN 16 2011 .DISCUSSION... ATMOSPHERE HAS HAD A HARD TIME SATURATING THIS EVENING...WITH ONLY VERY ISOLATED PRECIPITATION REPORTS ACROSS THE REGION...IN SPITE OF WIDESPREAD ECHOES ON RADAR. NOW BEGINNING TO GET SOME PRECIPITATION REPORTS AS ATMOSPHERE BEGINS TO FINALLY SATURATE...WITH THIS TREND TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS...MAINLY IN OUR EAST AS WAA AND UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE INCREASE OVER THAT AREA. PRECIPITATION TYPE COVERED PRETTY WELL IN THE GRIDS...WITH SNOW IN THE EAST TRANSITIONING TO MIXED PRECIPITATION FROM WEST TO EAST AS THE ATMOSPHERE WARMS ALOFT. SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE ALREADY SLOWLY RISING...AND EXPECT THIS TREND TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT...SO LOWS HAVE PROBABLY ALREADY BEEN REACHED. UPDATES OUT. /JM .AVIATION... MVFR TO IFR CONDS WL BE THE DOMINANT CATEGORIES FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT AS A SHORT WAVE PASSES ACROSS THIS AREA. THE BEST CHCS FOR PCPN...LIKELY IN THE FORM OF SNOW OR A SNOW/SLEET MIX WILL BE THROUGH NW IA...AND ADJACENT PARTS OF EXTREME SERN SD...NERN NEB AND SW MN IN THE OVERNIGHT HRS. ELSEWHERE...VERY LIGHT FREEZING RAIN OR SLEET MAY OCCUR BUT WILL BE PATCHY. ON MONDAY...MORE IFR TO MVFR CONDS ARE EXPECTED AS A TRAILING CANADIAN CDFNT SWEEPS RAPIDLY SWD. THE FRONTAL TIMING IN THIS FORECAST AREA IS EXPECTED TO BE FM NEAR 15Z...EXITING BY ABOUT 21Z. AS THE TMPS BECOME COLDER ALOFT...-SN AND BLSN WL BE THE PRIMARY WX CONCERNS ALONG AND BEHIND THE FRONT. /MJF && .PREV DISCUSSION... WARMING ALOFT WILL PUSH INTO THE CWA OVERNIGHT AHEAD OF NEXT WAVE SET TO SLIDE THROUGH THE AREA ON MONDAY...AND THIS WARMING PRESENTS SOME PRECIP TYPE ISSUES...THOUGH FORTUNATELY THE QUICK MOVING WAVES WILL LIMIT PRECIP AMOUNTS. FIRST WEAK WAVE GENERATING SOME MID LEVEL CLOUDS IN WESTERN/CENTRAL SD LATE THIS AFTERNOON...BUT BOTH NAM/GFS KEEP MID LEVELS FAIRLY DRY OVER OUR AREA INTO THE EVENING. DRY AIR ALOFT AND WARMING TEMPERATURES WITHIN THE STRATUS LAYER DO PRESENT A CONCERN FOR -FZDZ. CONFIDENCE IN THIS THREAT NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO ADD MENTION AT THIS TIME...BUT EVENING SHIFT WILL WANT TO MONITOR FOR POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT. DEEPER SATURATION INDICATED AS THIS WAVE REACHES AREAS ALONG/EAST OF I-29 TOWARD 06Z SO HAVE KEPT POPS IN CHANCE RANGE THIS EVENING...WITH CHANCES RAMPING UP ACROSS NWRN IA/SWRN MN 06Z-12Z BEFORE THE FIRST WAVE MOVES OFF TO THE EAST. SECOND STRONGER WAVE AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW TRAILS BEHIND WITH LITTLE IF ANY PRECIP REALLY EXPECTED IN WESTERN PARTS OF THE AREA TONIGHT. MODELS NOT SHOWING GREAT CONSENSUS ON JUST HOW FAR EAST THE WARM AIR WILL PUSH...AND PART OF THE DIFFICULTY IS AFOREMENTIONED DRY AIR IN MID LEVELS...SO MUST ALLOW FOR SOME WET-BULB EFFECT AS LAYER BEGINS TO SATURATE. THUS HAVE FAVORED SLIGHTLY COOLER GFS TEMPS ALOFT FOR NOW...WHICH PLACES BEST CHANCE FOR -FZRA WEST OF AREA WHERE PRECIP CHANCES OVERALL ARE LOWEST. AREA OF GREATEST CONCERN FOR A LITTLE ICING IS IN FAR SOUTHERN AREAS WHERE WARMER TEMPS ALOFT MAY EXPAND EAST INTO KSUX AREA BEFORE PRECIP MOVES OUT IN THE EARLY MORNING. HOWEVER...WITH CURRENT THINKING OF ONLY A COUPLE HUNDRETHS ICE ACCUMULATION AND UNCERTAINTY IN TIMING OF WARM AIR...WILL FORGO ANY ADVISORIES AT THIS TIME. AS FOR TEMPERATURES...THOUGH FULL DEPTH OF WARMING ALOFT WILL NOT BE SEEN AT THE SURFACE...SO EXPECT READINGS TO CLIMB SLOWLY THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT...WITH AREAS WEST OF THE JAMES RIVER MOST LIKELY TO RISE TO OR ABOVE FREEZING BEFORE DAYBREAK MONDAY. /JH LINGERING LIGHT PCPN SERN PART OF FORECAST AREA SHOULD MOVE OUT VERY ERY MON MRNG WHILE THE NEXT WAVE SPREADS MORE LIGHT MIXED PCPN ACROSS THE AREA FROM THE NW. THIS SECOND WAVE IS ACTUALLY SHOWING UP BETTER ON THE 18Z NAM12 THAN ON THE 12Z RUN. STILL SURGING WARM AIR ACROSS THE SOUTH AND ESPECIALLY SOUTHEAST PART OF FCST AREA AT START OF THE MORNING MAY BRING A LITTLE MORE FREEZING RAIN TO THAT AREA. BY MID MORNING THE NORTHERLY SPREAD OF COOLER AIR INTO THE AREA WILL BE DEVELOPING AND SPREADING EWD...AND ANY LINGERING PCPN WILL BE CHANGING TO LIGHT SNOW. DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH PCPN WITH BOTH SNOW AND ICE ACCUMS BEING QUITE LIGHT. EARLIER NAM WAS SLIGHTLY MORE BULLISH ON TUE PCPN IN NWRN IA BUT THIS RUN HAS BACKED OFF A TAD...SO FOR NOW DO NOT EXPECT TWO INCHES OF SNOW ANYWHERE AND CONSIDERING MIX PCPN EARLY IN THE DAY...AN INCH MAY BE HARD TO COME BY. TEMPS AT THE SFC SHOULD CONT TO WARM MON MORNING BUT WITH THE WARMING SLOWING DOWN AND REVERSING AS THE DAY GOES ON AND NWRLY FLOW DEVELOPING BEHIND SYSTEM BRINGS IN COOLER AIR. SOUTHERN PART OF FCST AREA SHOULD GET CLOSE TO FREEZING AT THE SFC. THE NWRLY WINDS WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE MARKEDLY AS PRESSURES RISE FAIRLY SHARPLY. WINDS LOOK LIKE THEY WILL BE STRONG ENOUGH TO KEEP THE BLOWING SNOW MENTION IN THE FORECAST FOR MON NIGHT...BEGINNING LATE AFTN MON. WITH THE SNOW COVER GETTING A LITTLE LESS LOOSE BY THEN...DO NOT THINK AT THIS TIME AN ADVY FOR BLOWING SNOW WILL BE NEEDED. BY THE END OF MON NIGHT WIND CHILLS COULD GET DOWN TO ADVY LEVELS NORTHEAST HALF OF AREA BUT TOO MARGINAL AND UNCERTAIN FOR NOW TO ISSUE A WIND CHILL ADVY AT THIS POINT. TUE SHOULD BE A DRY DAY...NOT AS SUNNY AS WE THOUGHT AT ONE POINT WITH MODELS SHOWING AREAS OF MID LEVEL MOISTURE SPREADING DOWN E SIDE OF UPPER RIDGE. COLD WITH SINGLE DIGIT HIGHS FOR MOST OF AREA. WED LIGHT SNOW SYSTEM IS LOOKING QUESTIONABLE WITH MOST MODELS SHOWING SYSTEM PASSING S OF AREA ON A SEWD TRACK...ONLY THE GFS HOLDING ON TO A DECENT THREAT. WILL NOT CUT TOTALLY THE LIGHT SNOW FOR NOW BUT WILL GO WITH ONLY SLIGHT CHC AT MOST. THU THRU SUN EXTENDED FORECAST IS LOOKING PRETTY DRY WITH VERY BROAD WESTERN RIDGE/EASTERN TROF REGIME. SURGE OF COLD AIR THU WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A WARMING TREND. THIS WARMING MAY OR MAY NOT STALL OVER THE WEEKEND DEPENDING ON WHICH MODEL IS RIGHT...OR LESS WRONG...ON HOW WAVES COME DOWN WESTERN RIDGE. HOWEVER NOTHING SEEMS TO BE STRNG ENOUGH AND ON THE RIGHT TRACK FOR PCPN MENTION. / WILLIAMS && .FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. NE...NONE. && WILLIAMS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 0508 AM CST SUN JAN 16 2011 SDZ038>040-050-052>071-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097-098- IAZ001>003-012>014-020>022-031-032-NEZ013-014-171200- AURORA-BEADLE-BON HOMME-BROOKINGS-BRULE-BUENA VISTA IA- CHARLES MIX-CHEROKEE IA-CLAY-CLAY IA-COTTONWOOD MN-DAKOTA NE- DAVISON-DICKINSON IA-DIXON NE-DOUGLAS-GREGORY-HANSON-HUTCHINSON- IDA IA-JACKSON MN-JERAULD-KINGSBURY-LAKE-LINCOLN-LINCOLN MN- LYON IA-LYON MN-MCCOOK-MINER-MINNEHAHA-MOODY-MURRAY MN-NOBLES MN- OBRIEN IA-OSCEOLA IA-PIPESTONE MN-PLYMOUTH IA-ROCK MN-SANBORN- SIOUX IA-TURNER-UNION-WOODBURY IA-YANKTON- 0508 AM CST SUN JAN 16 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA... SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...NORTHWEST IOWA...AND NORTHEAST NEBRASKA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WINTER WEATHER... FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THE MISSOURI AND JAMES RIVER VALLEYS THIS EVENING SHIFTING EAST TOWARDS THE INTERRELATE 29 CORRIDOR AROUND MIDNIGHT. FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET CAN BE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ALONG AND EAST OF THE JAMES RIVER VALLEY INTO MONDAY...BEFORE CHANGING OVER TO LIGHT SNOW MONDAY AFTERNOON. WHILE ICING AMOUNTS REMAIN UNCERTAIN AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS AS THOUGH THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR ICING EXISTS ALONG AND EAST OF THE JAMES RIVER VALLEY WHERE UP TO A QUARTER OF AN INCH OF ICE IS POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE ON MONDAY AFTERNOON INTO MONDAY EVENING POTENTUALLY CREATING AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW AND USHERING ARCTIC AIR BACK INTO THE REGION. WIND CHILL READINGS LATE MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING MAY FALL TO 20 TO 30 DEGREES BELOW ZERO...ESPECIALLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 90. SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO FALL TO 10 TO 20 DEGREES BELOW ZERO TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM DE SMET SOUTH DAKOTA TO STORM LAKE IOWA. THESE BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH A LIGHT NORTHWEST WIND WILL PRODUCE WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 35 DEGREES BELOW ZERO. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT. && FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SIOUXFALLS. THIS INCLUDES THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK. BT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Light freezing rain caused icy roads, sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots. A few schools which would have otherwise been open on January 17th were closed, including those at Kingsley. The icing was alleviated by late morning on January 17th when temperatures warmed above freezing.
Light freezing rain caused icy roads, sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots. A few schools which would have otherwise been open on January 17th were closed, including those at Moville and Lawton. The icing was alleviated by late morning on January 17th when temperatures warmed above freezing.
Light freezing rain caused icy roads, sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots. The icing was alleviated by late morning on January 17th when temperatures warmed above freezing.
Light freezing rain caused icy roads, sidewalks, driveways, and parking lots. The icing was alleviated by late morning on January 17th when temperatures warmed above freezing.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, January 2011
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: 281237, 281239, 281241, 281242.