A large low pressure system moved across the midwest, bringing severe storms to some and wintry weather to others. Precipitation across Iowa began late on the 9th as rain, with much of the area in the warm sector of the cyclone.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 DMX wrote it up.
A large low pressure system moved across the midwest, bringing severe storms to some and wintry weather to others. Precipitation across Iowa began late on the 9th as rain, with much of the area in the warm sector of the cyclone. As the cold front passed across the state temperature dropped in the early morning hours before stalling. Temperatures across northern Iowa hovered around freezing and eventually elevated surfaces cooled enough for a transition to freezing rain. By early afternoon portions of northern Iowa saw a quarter inch or more of ice accumulation, resulting in tree damage and some power outages. Thankfully warm road temperatures mitigated travel impacts and roads were never reported to accumulate any ice at all. After a break in precipitation during the afternoon, light snow fell across northern Iowa later that night in the deformation zone with minor accumulations.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 ice storm. Local standard time, as filed.
In Fonda, law enforcement estimated a quarter inch of ice on elevated surfaces, weighing down tree branches and powerlines. Power outages in many parts of town. Roads remain only wet with no ice.
A trained spotter reported 6 to 8 inch diameter tree limbs down in Rockwell City due to ice accumulations. Roads remain just wet.
A public report of a quarter inch of ice accumulation.
A coop observer in Algona reported 6 to 8 inch diameter tree branches down with a few larger 12 to 14 inch diameter branches down with flickering power. Ice accumulation at 7 am was an eighth to a quarter inch and continued to accumulate through the morning.
Broadcast media relayed a photo of an 8 inch tree branch in Northwood down due to ice accumulation.
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, November 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: 927224, 927230, 927231, 927232, 927506, 927505, 927233.