Iowa, 2019

Extreme Cold in Iowa, February 8, 2019

February 8, 2019 · NWS DMX · 13 events in 13 counties and zones

Winter continued its grip on Iowa, with persistent cold air advection after the departure of a combination of blizzard conditions, freezing rain, and blowing snow. As the parent surface low and 500 mb trough departed the area, through the 7th of February, gusty northwest winds to 20 to 25+ mph ushered in a push of Arctic air that peaked overnight on the 7th into the morning of the 8th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 13 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
13

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.

Winter continued its grip on Iowa, with persistent cold air advection after the departure of a combination of blizzard conditions, freezing rain, and blowing snow. As the parent surface low and 500 mb trough departed the area, through the 7th of February, gusty northwest winds to 20 to 25+ mph ushered in a push of Arctic air that peaked overnight on the 7th into the morning of the 8th. As a result, morning lows dropped down to around -10 degrees F across portions of northern and northwest Iowa, while near zero to below zero temperatures prevailed all the way to the Iowa-Missouri border. While the surface pressure gradient and resulting winds relaxed through the evening of the 7th, the bitter cold did not require strong winds to result in persistent -25 to -35 degree F wind chill values overnight and into the morning hours. Winds in the 10 to 20 mph range were sufficient to achieve the previously mentioned wind chill values. Incoming surface high pressure continued to relax winds, allowing wind chill values to warm above the -20 degrees F range or warmer by noon on the 8th.

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 Feb 7, 5:39 PM CST, 10 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 7, 5:39 PM CST, 10 hours 21 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 7, 4:12 PM CST, 11 hours 48 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

13 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Emmet

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Emmet forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
43.378, -94.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Palo Alto

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Palo Alto forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
43.082, -94.678 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Pocahontas

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Pocahontas forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
42.734, -94.679 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Kossuth

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Kossuth forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
43.204, -94.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Humboldt

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Humboldt forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
42.777, -94.207 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Winnebago

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Winnebago forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
43.378, -93.734 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Hancock

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Hancock forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
43.082, -93.734 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Wright

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Wright forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
42.733, -93.735 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Worth

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Worth forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
43.377, -93.261 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Cerro Gordo

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Cerro Gordo forecast zone
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
43.082, -93.261 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Franklin

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Franklin forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
42.733, -93.262 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Sac

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Sac forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
42.386, -95.105 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Calhoun

When
February 8, 4:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where
Calhoun forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS
Coordinates
42.385, -94.640 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Iowa in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, February 2019

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 805419, 805420, 805421, 805422, 805423, 805424, 805425, 805426, 805427, 805428, 805429, 806019, 806020.