A weak disturbance moving from Minnesota to Illinois brought increased cloud cover and snow showers to the Mid Mississippi Valley during the afternoon and early evening of March 4. Snow fell to the south of a line from Coggon to Anamosa to DeWitt and southeastward to Princeton, IL.
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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 DVN wrote it up.
A weak disturbance moving from Minnesota to Illinois brought increased cloud cover and snow showers to the Mid Mississippi Valley during the afternoon and early evening of March 4. Snow fell to the south of a line from Coggon to Anamosa to DeWitt and southeastward to Princeton, IL. Snowfall totals ranged from 3 tenths of inch at Davenport to three inches in Brighton, What Cheer, Ladora, and Victor. High temperatures ranged from 28 degrees at Dubuque and Cedar Rapids to 35 degrees at Macomb, IL.
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 Mar 4, 11:14 AM CST, 1 hour 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 1114 AM CST SUN MAR 4 2012 .AVIATION... A FAST MOVING AND SMALL STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING A PERIOD OF LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW TO SOUTHEAST IOWA THIS AFTERNOON. CID AND MLI WILL BE AT THE EDGE OF THIS SNOW SYSTEM...AND MAY EXPERIENCE A BRIEF LIGHT SNOW VISIBILITY RESTRICTIONS AROUND 5 MILES THIS AFTERNOON. BRL...WILL SEE MODERATE SNOW POTENTIALLY FOR A PERIOD FROM 20Z TO 00Z THIS AFTERNOON. VISIBILITIES OF 1/2 TO 1 MILE WILL BE COMMON AT BRL. DBQ...AND THE REST OF NORTHEAST IOWA WILL LIKELY REMAIN SNOW FREE...AND VFR. AFTER 02Z...ALL SITES WILL BE VFR THROUGH THE REST OF TONIGHT AS HIGH PRESSURE MOVES IN. WINDS THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING WILL BE UNDER 10KTS FROM THE WEST...TONIGHT...NORTH WINDS AROUND 10 TO 12 KTS ARE EXPECTED...BEFORE BECOMING LIGHT WEST AGAIN MONDAY MORNING AFTER 12Z. ..ERVIN.. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 751 AM CST SUN MAR 4 2012/ UPDATE... HAVE UPDATED THE FORECAST FOR PERIOD OF SUNSHINE THIS MORNING AND TO DELAY THE ONSET OF LIGHT SNOW AND FLURRIES IN THE WEST. BASED ON SLOWER TIMING OF THE LATEST RUC AND NAM...THE DEVELOPING LIGHT SNOW WITH THE CLIPPER SYSTEM NOW OVER THE EASTERN DAKOTAS WILL NOT REACH CENTRAL IA UNTIL 18Z...AND MAY NOT DEVELOP INTO MEASURABLE LIGHT SNOW IN OUR WESTERN COUNTIES UNTIL 1 OR 2 PM. EXPECTED SNOW AMOUNTS LOOK ON TRACK...BUT MODEL TRENDS ARE SUGGESTING A SLIGHT SW SHIFT MAY TAKE PLACE. ..SHEETS.. && .DVN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IA...NONE. IL...NONE. MO...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 423 AM CST SUN MAR 4 2012 IAZ040>042-051>054-063>068-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ001-002-007- 009-015>018-024>026-034-035-MOZ009-010-051030- 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- 423 AM CST SUN MAR 4 2012 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 FAST MOVING CLIPPER SYSTEM WILL PRODUCE LIGHT SNOW THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST IOWA...FAR NORTHEAST MISSOURI AND WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. BRIEF PERIODS OF MODERATE SNOWFALL MAY REDUCE VISIBILITY AND RESULT IN SLICK SPOTS ON ROADWAYS DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS AS HIGH AS 1 TO 2 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG AN AXIS FROM FAIRFIELD... THROUGH BURLINGTON...TO MACOMB. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. HOWEVER...REPORTS OF SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF AN INCH OR GREATER WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 1248 PM CST SUN MAR 4 2012 IAZ063-076>078-087>089-098-099-ILZ025-026-034-035-MOZ010-042145- IOWA-KEOKUK-WASHINGTON-LOUISA-JEFFERSON-HENRY IA-DES MOINES- VAN BUREN-LEE-HENDERSON-WARREN-HANCOCK-MCDONOUGH-CLARK- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MARENGO...SIGOURNEY...WASHINGTON... WAPELLO...FAIRFIELD...MOUNT PLEASANT...BURLINGTON...KEOSAUQUA.... FORT MADISON...OQUAWKA...MONMOUTH...CARTHAGE...MACOMB...KAHOKA 1248 PM CST SUN MAR 4 2012 ...MODERATE SNOW THIS AFTERNOON... SNOW WILL INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON...WITH VISIBILITIES OCCASIONALLY REDUCED UNDER 1/2 MILE AT TIMES. SNOW WILL ACCUMULATE ON GRASS EASILY...AND WILL EVENTUALLY CREATE SLUSH AND SNOW COVERED ROADS. SLICK CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON...AS 1 TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW FALLS. SNOW WILL RAPIDLY END EARLY THIS EVENING. ..ERVIN..
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
At 619 pm CST March 4, a trained spotter measured 3 inches of snow 2 miles south southwest of Ladora, IA.
At 650 pm CST March 4, a trained spotter measured 3 inches of snow 2 miles southeast of Victor, IA.
At 731 pm CST March 4, a trained spotter measured 3 inches of snow 4 miles east of what Cheer, IA.
At 827 pm CST March 4, a cooperative weather observer measured 3 inches of snow 3 miles north of Brighton, IA.
At 903 pm CST March 4, a member of the public measured 3 inches of snow 1 mile north of Van Horne, IA. Roads were reported to be snow covered.
At 912 pm CST March 4, a trained spotter measured 3.1 inches of snow 2 miles southwest of New London, IA.
At 744 am CST March 5, a trained spotter measured 3.1 inches of snow 3 miles south southwest of Burlington, IA over the previous 24 hours.
At 855 am CST March 5, a trained spotter measured 3.0 inches of snow 6 miles west northwest of Burlington, IA over the previous 24 hours.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, March 2012
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: 372978, 372979, 372980, 372982, 372983, 372997.