Freezing rain and freezing drizzle caused light icing of untreated roads and other surfaces in the Spirit Lake area and other parts of Dickinson County Iowa on the morning of February 8th.
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The episode as NWS FSD wrote it up.
Freezing rain and freezing drizzle caused light icing of untreated roads and other surfaces in the Spirit Lake area and other parts of Dickinson County Iowa on the morning of February 8th.
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 Feb 7, 10:49 PM CST, 5 hours 11 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 1049 PM CST SAT FEB 7 2015 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY) ISSUED AT 329 PM CST SAT FEB 7 2015 THE MAIN FOCUS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY WILL BE A SHORTWAVE TROUGH WHICH BREAKS DOWN THE UPPER RIDGE AND DIVES SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING. MID AND HIGH CLOUDS BUILD SOUTHWARD THIS EVENING AND BLANKET THE REGION INTO SUNDAY MORNING. MAIN UPPER LEVEL FORCING SLIDES THROUGH THE HEART OF THE FORECAST AREA LATE TONIGHT WHILE THE MID LEVEL FORCING PASSES THROUGH THE HIGHWAY 14 CORRIDOR INTO NORTHWEST IOWA. FORECAST SOUNDINGS SUGGEST THAT A SUBSTANTIAL DRY LAYER BELOW 750 MB WILL MAKE PRECIPITATION DIFFICULT INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. NAM AND GFS KEEP THE FORECAST AREA LARGELY DRY THROUGH DAYBREAK SUNDAY...HOWEVER THE ECMWF REMAINS THE WETTEST SOLUTION...WITH QPF AS EARLY AS MIDNIGHT TONIGHT IN OUR FAR NORTH. DECIDED TO DO A BLEND OF THE MODELS WHICH PLACES SOME LOW CHANCE AND SLIGHT CHANCE POPS IN OUR NORTHEAST HALF IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS AND SLOWLY SHIFTING IT EAST INTO LATE MORNING. THE SPOTTY PRECIPITATION WILL BE LIGHT...WITH ONLY A FEW HUNDREDTHS EXPECTED AT BEST. PRECIPITATION TYPE IS ALSO A CHALLENGE WITH SURFACE TEMPERATURES RIGHT AROUND 30 TO 35 DEGREES WHERE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED. COULD POSSIBLY SEE READINGS RISE A LITTLE WITH THE ARRIVAL OF MID CLOUDS IN SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA WHERE LOWS NEAR 30 ARE EXPECTED. SOUNDINGS SUGGEST THAT RAIN OR FREEZING RAIN WILL BE THE MAIN TYPE. WITH THE SPOTTY AND VERY LIGHT NATURE OF THIS PRECIPITATION...HAVE OPTED NOT TO ISSUE A FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY BUT WILL KEEP MENTION IN THE HWO. IT WILL CERTAINLY BE SOMETHING TO MONITOR TONIGHT. ALSO ADDED SOME PATCHY FOG MENTION IN WITH RECENT SNOWMELT ADDING TO THE NEAR SURFACE MOISTURE BELOW THE WARM LAYER ALOFT. SOME CLEARING SHOULD BEGIN WORKING INTO SOUTH CENTRAL SD SUNDAY AFTERNOON AS THE TROUGH DIGS TO THE EAST AND THE RIDGE BEGINS REBOUNDING IN THE HIGH PLAINS. STRATUS WILL LINGER TO THE EAST WITH SOME LINGERING LIGHT RAIN OR FREEZING RAIN...MIXING WITH SOME LIGHT SNOW IN THE AFTERNOON AS TEMPERATURES COOL ALOFT. NOT LOOKING AT ANY SNOW ACCUMULATION AND LITTLE TO NO ICING. HIGHS WILL BE IN THE LOW 30S NORTHEAST TO THE LOW 50S IN SOUTH CENTRAL SD. .LONG TERM...(SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY) ISSUED AT 329 PM CST SAT FEB 7 2015 THE PRIMARY CONCERN SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY WILL BE PRECIPITATION TYPE AS A MIX OF FREEZING RAIN AND SNOW ARE POSSIBLE BOTH SUNDAY NIGHT AND THEN MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY. A WEAK UPPER WAVE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS WESTERN MINNESOTA AND INTO WESTERN IOWA ON SUNDAY NIGHT. THIS WAVE WILL MOVE ALONG THE 850 MB FRONTAL BOUNDARY. BOTH THE NAM AND GFS HAVE AMPLE MOISTURE BELOW 700 MB BUT ARE FAIRLY DRY ABOVE THAT LEVEL. AS A RESULT...THERE WILL BE A REAL STRUGGLE TO INTRODUCE ICE CRYSTALS INTO THE CLOUDS. SO...ALTHOUGH SOUNDINGS...WHEN SATURATED WOULD SUPPORT PRIMARILY SNOW...THE LACK OF ICE MAY RESULT IN LIGHT FREEZING RAIN OR FREEZING DRIZZLE EAST OF I29. BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF MOISTURE...KEPT POPS ONLY AT 20 PERCENT AS THERE IS A REAL QUESTION THAT THE DYNAMICS WILL BE ABLE TO OVERCOME THE DRY MID LEVEL ATMOSPHERE. WITH MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES...LOWS WILL BE WELL ABOVE NORMAL IN THE 20S TO AROUND 30. THE EASTERN PLAINS WILL BE BETWEEN SYSTEMS ON MONDAY. THE NAM DID SUGGEST THE POTENTIAL FOR FREEZING DRIZZLE ALONG AND EAST OF I29. STRATUS WILL REMAIN OVER THIS AREA ON MONDAY...BUT LARGE SCALE SUBSIDENCE AND NORTHERLY FLOW WOULD SEEM TO MAKE FREEZING DRIZZLE LESS LIKELY SO DID NOT INCLUDE IN THE FORECAST AT THIS TIME. TEMPERATURES WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE UPPER 20S IN SW MN TO LOWER 40S IN SOUTH CENTRAL SD. THE NEXT WAVE APPROACHES THE AREA ON MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. THE GFS...ECMWF..AND CANADIAN GEM ARE ALL IN AGREEMENT ON THE GENERAL TIMING OF THIS WAVE WHILE THE NAM IS MUCH SLOWER. SO THE NAM SOLUTION WAS NOT USED WITH THIS FORECAST. THIS WAVE IS MORE ORGANIZED THAN THE SUNDAY NIGHT/S SYSTEM - THERE IS DEEP MOISTURE AND STRONG WARM ADVECTION TO HELP ENHANCE THE UPPER LEVEL LIFT. IT WILL TAKE A FEW HOURS TO SATURATE ABOVE THE -10C LAYER TO GET ICE INTRODUCED INTO THE CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION TO DEVELOP. MAX TEMPERATURES ALOFT WILL START OFF GENERALLY ABOVE ZERO ON MONDAY NIGHT AND THEN SLOWLY COOL ON TUESDAY. THIS WILL MEAN A LARGE NUMBER OF PRECIPTIATION TYPES. IN THE JAMES AND MISSOURI VALLEY TEMPERATURES WILL BE AROUND FREEZING AT THE SURFACE SO...IF PRECIPITATION DOES DEVELOP THAT FAR SOUTH AND WEST...IT WOULD MOST LIKELY BE RAIN OR FREEZING RAIN. FARTHER TO THE NORTHEAST TOWARD BROOKINGS AND INTO SW MN...THE LIFT LOOKS TO BE MORE PERSISTENT AND HAVE THE HIGHEST POPS...50 PERCENT...IN THIS AREA. SURFACE TEMPERATURES WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY BE BELOW FREEZING MONDAY NIGHT AND MUCH OF TUESDAY MORNING. TEMPERATURES ALOFT ARE MORE QUESTIONABLE...GENERALLY FROM AROUND ZERO TO +2 OR +3. WHILE THIS WOULD BASICALLY SUPPORT SNOW...SLEET OR FREEZING RAIN...AT THIS POINT...HAVE DECIDED TO EMPHASIZE FREEZING RAIN AND SNOW. THERE IS EVIDENCE THE THERMAL GRADIENT WILL BE FAIRLY TIGHT SO THAT THERE WILL BE A RATHER NARROW ZONE OF SLEET AND WITH TEMPERATURES GRADUALLY COOLING THE EXPECTATION IS THAT ANY SLEET WOULD ONLY LAST AN HOUR OR TWO AS PRECIPITATION GOES FROM FREEZING RAIN TO SNOW. IN ADDITION...WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 20S LATE MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING...THE IMPACT OF ANY FREEZING RAIN MAY BE LARGE AND WOULD PREFER TO EMPHASIZE THAT THREAT AT THIS POINT THAN HAVE THE MESSAGE LOST DUE TO CONFUSION IN PRECIPITATION TYPES. CURRENTLY PROJECTIONS ARE FOR BETWEEN 0.10 TO 0.20 TOTAL QPF BETWEEN BROOKINGS AND MARSHALL...WITH UP TO A TENTH OF INCH OF ICE AROUND THAT SAME AREA. SNOWFALL WOULD BE AN INCH OR LESS. THERE IS A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY IN TEMPERATURES ALOFT AND PRECIPITATION TYPES AT THIS POINT AND SHOULD TEMPERATURES ALOFT TREND BE COOLER...SIMILAR TO THE 12Z ECMWF...THEN SNOW WILL BE MOST LIKELY IN SW MN...WITH MORE OF A FREEZING RAIN THREAT POSSIBLE FARTHER TO THE SOUTH AND WEST TOWARD SIOUX FALLS...HURON AND SPENCER IA. PERSONS PLANNING TRAVEL MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING SHOULD STAY TUNED TO THE FORECAST AS WHEN AND WHERE FREEZING RAIN DOES FALL WILL IMPACT TRAVEL ACROSS THE REGION. ANY PRECIPITATION SHOULD END TUESDAY NIGHT. THEN FOR WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...THE MAIN CONCERN IS TEMPERATURES. THE MODELS ARE SIMILAR THROUGH THURSDAY WITH THE GFS THEN BECOMING MORE AMPLIFIED AND KEEPING THE COLD AIR OVER THE EASTERN PLAINS LONGER FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. THE ECMWF HAS A STRONGER WAVE MOVING INTO THE GREAT LAKES ON SATURDAY WITH THE EFFECT THAT WARMER AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY BUT A STRONG ARCTIC FRONT WOULD MOVE THROUGH LATE SATURDAY OR SATURDAY NIGHT. DID FOLLOW CLOSER TO THE ECMWF FOR LATE IN THE WEEK. AS A RESULT...AFTER STEADY OR FALLING TEMPERATURES ON WEDNESDAY AND COLD TEMPERATURES THURSDAY...HAVE TEMPERATURES BACK ABOVE FREEZING ON FRIDAY WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES ON SATURDAY. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z SUNDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 1028 PM CST SAT FEB 7 2015 SOME SPRINKLES AND LIGHT RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE AT KHON AND KFSD BUT SHOULD NOT CAUSE ANY RESTRICTIONS TO VIS. A SLOW LOWERING OF CIGS WILL OCCUR FROM MIDNIGHT UNTIL AROUND 6 AM BUT IS EXPECTED TO STAY IN THE MVFR CAT. HAVE ADDED SOME 3-4SM FOG AT KSUX AS VIS HAS ALREADY DROPPED TO 6SM BR AND TO KHON AND KFSD TOWARD SUNRISE. LIGHT AND VARIABLE WINDS WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE IN SPEED TO AROUND 10KTS FROM THE NORTHWEST AROUND 6 AM LOCAL TIME ON SUNDAY MORNING. && .FSD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SD...NONE. MN...NONE. IA...NONE. NE...NONE. && SHORT TERM... LONG TERM...SCHUMACHER AVIATION...SALLY
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 238 PM CST SAT FEB 7 2015 IAZ001>003-012>014-021-022-032-MNZ071-072-080-081-089-090-097-098- SDZ038>040-054>056-062-082045- LYON IA-OSCEOLA-DICKINSON-SIOUX-O'BRIEN-CLAY IA-CHEROKEE- BUENA VISTA-IDA-LINCOLN MN-LYON MN-MURRAY-COTTONWOOD-NOBLES- JACKSON-PIPESTONE-ROCK-BEADLE-KINGSBURY-BROOKINGS-MINER-LAKE- MOODY-MINNEHAHA- 238 PM CST SAT FEB 7 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST IOWA...SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA...EAST CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A PERIOD OF LIGHT FREEZING RAIN OR RAIN IS POSSIBLE AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE A FEW DEGREES EITHER SIDE OF FREEZING...CREATING THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME LIGHT ICING. MINOR AMOUNTS OF FREEZING RAIN CAN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT TRAVEL...THUS ANYONE WITH TRAVEL PLANS TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE FORECAST. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THERE IS ANOTHER CHANCE OF FREEZING RAIN SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING MAINLY EAST OF INTERSTATE 29. MINOR ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PERIOD OF ICING APPEARS TO BE ON MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING. AT THIS TIME...UP TO A TENTH OF AN INCH OF ICING IS POSSIBLE...WITH THE GREATEST LIKELIHOOD NORTH OF INTERSTATE 90. THOSE WITH TRAVEL PLANS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE FORECAST FOR THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. IAZ020-031-NEZ013-014-SDZ050-052-053-057>061-063>071-082045- PLYMOUTH-WOODBURY-DIXON-DAKOTA-GREGORY-JERAULD-SANBORN-BRULE- AURORA-DAVISON-HANSON-MCCOOK-CHARLES MIX-DOUGLAS-HUTCHINSON- TURNER-LINCOLN SD-BON HOMME-YANKTON-CLAY SD-UNION- 238 PM CST SAT FEB 7 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST IOWA...NORTHEAST NEBRASKA...EAST CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A PERIOD OF LIGHT RAIN IS POSSIBLE AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. AIR TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO MAINLY REMAIN ABOVE FREEZING...HOWEVER SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE SLIGHTLY BELOW FREEZING POTENTIALLY CREATING HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS FOR TRAVEL SUNDAY MORNING. EVEN LIGHT ICING CAN IMPACT TRAVEL...SO ANYONE WITH TRAVEL PLANS TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE FORECAST. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PERIOD OF ICING APPEARS TO BE ON MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY MORNING. AT THIS TIME...UP TO A TENTH OF AN INCH OF ICING IS POSSIBLE...WITH THE GREATEST LIKELIHOOD NORTH OF INTERSTATE 90. THOSE WITH TRAVEL PLANS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE FORECAST FOR THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SIOUX FALLS SD 236 AM CST SUN FEB 8 2015 MNZ080-081-089-090-081100- MURRAY-COTTONWOOD-NOBLES-JACKSON- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...SLAYTON...FULDA...WINDOM... MOUNTAIN LAKE...WORTHINGTON...JACKSON...LAKEFIELD 236 AM CST SUN FEB 8 2015 ...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT... AREAS OF LIGHT RAIN IS MOVING ACROSS THE AREA AT THIS TIME. SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE HOVERING A DEGREE OR SO EITHER SIDE OF FREEZING. THEREFORE AREAS OF FREEZING RAIN IS VERY POSSIBLE UNTIL ABOUT SUNRISE. THIS COULD CREATE CHALLENGING DRIVING CONDITIONS EARLY THIS MORNING...WITH SOME SURFACES ABOVE FREEZING WHILE OTHER LOCATIONS WILL BE BELOW FREEZING. USE CAUTION WHEN DRIVING.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Light freezing rain and freezing drizzle caused icy travel on some untreated roads and other surfaces.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, February 2015
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: 559320.