Winter Weather in Iowa, March 19 to 20, 2020

Name: Winter Weather in Iowa, March 19 to 20, 2020
Start: 2020-03-19T16:00
End: 2020-03-20T03:00
Location: Iowa

March 19 to 20, 2020 · NWS FSD · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 11 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: 11

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 FSD wrote it up.

Low pressure intensified moving from southeast Colorado on the morning of March 19, into the Great Lakes early on March 20. A strong band of mid-level frontogenesis progressed slowly eastward across the area during the afternoon and evening hours. The system was initially quite warm, resulting in a swath of moderate to heavy rainfall from northeast Nebraska into northwest Iowa. As the system strengthened on the 19th, much colder air was dragged into the frontal band, and precipitation turned quickly from rain to snow from northwest to southeast, and was accompanied by winds gusting 40 to 55 mph. Snowfall was generally from 1 to 5 inches near and south of Interstate 90, with heaviest bands near the Missouri River and again from the Sioux Falls area eastward along Interstate 90. Sioux City reached record precipitation for the date with 1.58 inches on March 19.

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 Sioux Falls, SD wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 19, 2:32 PM CST, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 19, 2:32 PM CST, 1 hour 28 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 19, 3:11 PM CST, 49 minutes before

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Sioux Falls SD
411 PM CDT Thu Mar 19 2020

MNZ071-072-SDZ038>040-052>059-202115-
Lincoln-Lyon-Beadle-Kingsbury-Brookings-Jerauld-Sanborn-Miner-
Lake-Moody-Brule-Aurora-Davison-
411 PM CDT Thu Mar 19 2020

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southwest
Minnesota, central South Dakota, east central South Dakota, south
central South Dakota, and southeast South Dakota.

.DAY ONE...Tonight

Snow will end quickly late this afternoon and early this evening.
A trace to an inch of snow will be possible during this time. Once
the snow ends strong northerly winds will drop wind chill values
to 5 below to 10 below zero.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

IAZ020>022-031-032-NEZ013-014-SDZ050-063>065-068>071-202115-
Plymouth-Cherokee-Buena Vista-Woodbury-Ida-Dixon-Dakota-Gregory-
Charles Mix-Douglas-Hutchinson-Bon Homme-Yankton-Clay-Union-
411 PM CDT Thu Mar 19 2020

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of northwest Iowa,
west central Iowa, northeast Nebraska, south central South
Dakota, and southeast South Dakota.

.DAY ONE...Tonight

Rain will change to snow late this afternoon and early this
evening with north winds gusting to 40 mph at times. One to three
inches of snow will be possible with the higher amounts in far
south central and southeast South Dakota. Cold northerly winds
will allow wind chills to drop to around zero overnight into
Friday morning.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

IAZ001>003-012>014-MNZ080-081-089-090-097-098-SDZ060>062-066-067-
202115-
Lyon-Osceola-Dickinson-Sioux-O'Brien-Clay-Murray-Cottonwood-
Nobles-Jackson-Pipestone-Rock-Hanson-McCook-Minnehaha-Turner-
Lincoln-
411 PM CDT Thu Mar 19 2020

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of northwest Iowa,
southwest Minnesota, and southeast South Dakota.

.DAY ONE...Tonight

For areas still raining a quick change to snow is expected late
this afternoon. One to two inches will be possible before coming
to an end around 9 or 10 pm. Cold northerly winds will allow the
wind chill to drop to around 5 below zero late tonight into Friday
morning.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not expected at this time.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Lyon

When: March 19, 4:00 PM CST to 11:00 PM CST
Where: Lyon forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.381, -96.210 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed quickly to snowfall late afternoon on March 19, with visibility of one-quarter to one-half mile at times from 1800-2000CST. The intense snowfall rate made travel hazardous during the late afternoon and evening as winds increased to a peak of 42 mph near Doon. Snowfall totaled 4.0 inches at Rock Rapids.

Winter Weather, Osceola

When: March 19, 4:00 PM CST to March 20, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Osceola forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.379, -95.624 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed quickly to snowfall late afternoon on March 19, with visibility briefly one-quarter to one-half mile at times from 1800-2100CST. The intense snowfall rate made travel hazardous during the evening as winds increased to a peak of 48 mph near Sibley. Snowfall totaled 1.5 inches at Sibley.

Winter Weather, O'Brien

When: March 19, 4:30 PM CST to March 20, 1:00 AM CST
Where: O'Brien forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.084, -95.625 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed quickly to snowfall by late afternoon and early evening on March 19, with visibility one-quarter to one-half mile at times between 2100-2300CST. The intense snowfall rate made travel hazardous during the evening as winds increased to a peak of 43 mph at Sheldon and 35 mph at Sutherland. Snowfall totaled 2.3 inches at Sanborn and 2.0 inches at Primghar and Sheldon.

Winter Weather, Sioux

When: March 19, 5:00 PM CST to March 20, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Sioux forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.083, -96.178 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed quickly to snowfall by late afternoon and early evening on March 19, with visibility briefly one-quarter to one-half mile at times between 2000-2300CST. The intense snowfall rate made travel hazardous during the evening as winds increased to a peak of 43 mph near Maurice and 41 mph at Alton. Snowfall totaled 3.0 inches at Hull and 2.0 inches at Rock Valley and Orange City.

Winter Weather, Plymouth

When: March 19, 5:00 PM CST to March 20, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Plymouth forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.738, -96.214 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed quickly to snowfall by late afternoon and early evening on March 19, with visibility one-quarter to one-half mile at times between 1800-2100CST. The intense snowfall rate made travel hazardous during the evening as winds increased to a peak of 45 mph at Le Mars. Snowfall totaled 2.4 inches at Remsen and 2.0 inches at Akron.

Winter Weather, Dickinson

When: March 19, 6:00 PM CST to March 20, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Dickinson forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.378, -95.151 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed quickly to snowfall by evening on March 19, with visibility briefly one-quarter to one-half mile at times between 1900-2200CST. The intense snowfall rate made travel hazardous during the evening as winds increased to a peak of 43 mph 3 miles south southeast of Lake Park. Snowfall totaled 2.7 inches 4 miles northwest of Okoboji.

Winter Weather, Clay

When: March 19, 6:00 PM CST to March 20, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 43.083, -95.151 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed quickly to snowfall by evening on March 19, with visibility briefly one-quarter to one-half mile at times between 2000-2300CST. The intense snowfall rate made travel hazardous during the evening as winds increased to a peak of 46 mph at Spencer. Snowfall totaled 2.5 inches 3 miles west northwest of Everly.

Winter Weather, Cherokee

When: March 19, 6:00 PM CST to March 20, 1:00 AM CST
Where: Cherokee forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.736, -95.624 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed quickly to snowfall by early evening on March 19, with visibility briefly one-quarter to one-half mile at times between 1930-2300CST. The intense snowfall rate made travel hazardous during the evening as winds increased to a peak of 35 mph at Cherokee. Snowfall totaled 4.0 inches 4 miles north of Cleghorn and 1.5 inches at Cherokee.

Winter Weather, Woodbury

When: March 19, 6:00 PM CST to March 20, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Woodbury forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.390, -96.045 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed quickly to snowfall by early evening on March 19, with visibility one-quarter to one-half mile at times between 1800-2000CST. The intense snowfall rate made travel hazardous during the evening as winds increased to a peak of 45 mph at Sioux City. Snowfall totaled 4.0 inches 3 miles north northeast of Sioux City and 3.8 inches at Sergeant Bluff.

Winter Weather, Buena Vista

When: March 19, 7:00 PM CST to March 20, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Buena Vista forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.736, -95.151 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed quickly to snowfall by early evening on March 19, with visibility one-quarter to one-half mile at times between 2000-0200CST. The intense snowfall rate made travel hazardous during the evening as winds increased to a peak of 51 mph 2 miles south southwest of Storm Lake and 45 mph 2 miles east northeast of Storm Lake. Snowfall totaled 2.4 inches 4 miles east of Sioux Rapids.

Winter Weather, Ida

When: March 19, 7:00 PM CST to March 20, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Ida forecast zone
Reported by: COOP Observer
Coordinates: 42.387, -95.513 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rain changed quickly to snowfall by early evening on March 19, with visibility briefly one-quarter to one-half mile at times between 2100-2300CST. The intense snowfall rate made travel hazardous during the evening as winds increased to a peak of 35 mph at Ida Grove. Snowfall totaled 1.2 inches 3 miles northeast of Battle Creek and 1.0 inch 5 miles north northwest of Holstein.

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Iowa in 2020 Every state in 2020 This day in weather history Warnings in Iowa, March 2020

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: 877060, 877061, 877064, 877066, 877067, 877062, 877063, 877068, 877071, 877069, 877073.