A sharp upper-level trough amplified as it dug through the Northern Plains on January 3. Intensifying low-level wind gradients resulted in a burst of stronger winds for a couple hours, which accompanied snowfall to produce a brief period of dangerous visibility.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
A sharp upper-level trough amplified as it dug through the Northern Plains on January 3. Intensifying low-level wind gradients resulted in a burst of stronger winds for a couple hours, which accompanied snowfall to produce a brief period of dangerous visibility.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Snowfall totaled 3.6 inches 4 miles northwest of Milford and 1.2 inches near Lake Park. Strong northerly winds gusted as high as 38 mph near Estherville and 44 mph at Spencer, and resulted in a brief period of visibility as low as one-half mile.
Snowfall totaled 1.1 inches at Spencer. Despite the lesser accumulation of snow, strong northerly winds gusted as high as 44 mph at Spencer and resulted in a brief period of visibility as low as one-half mile.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Iowa in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Iowa, January 2020
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 872358, 872359.