SPRING IS OFFICIALLY ON "SPRING BREAK"...

Some folks in parts of eastern Iowa and SW Wisconsin got to enjoy some late season snow early Thursday. While amounts from EC Iowa into WC Wisconsin were generally an inch or less it's somewhat rare to see snow this late in the year. This image was sent my way by Chad Hesket of Anamosa, Iowa showing enough of the white gold to write hi on the car wind shield!

Here's the general area where snow was reported.

For most of the event rain was the dominate form of precipitation. Here you can see where the system produced the greatest amounts.

Back to the topic of snow, a remarkable event hit the central Midwest May 1-3 in 2013. Here's a nice account of the record breaking storm from the NWS in Des Moines.

May 1-3, 2013 Historic Spring Snowstorm

An unprecedented spring snowstorm impacted the central United States from May 1 to May 3, dropping record-shattering amounts of snow up and down the western Mississippi River Valley. Some locations across the southern United States saw their first ever May snowfall and cities in Kansas and Missouri saw their highest snowfall totals in 106 years. Meanwhile, noteworthy May single day and storm total records for the states of Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin were eclipsed by this event. South central Iowa up through southeast Minnesota and western Wisconsin bore the brunt of the snowfall with 10+ inch reports not uncommon. Warm road temperatures across Iowa helped to initially melt the falling snow, but conditions quickly deteriorated across the regions where heavier snow fell. This led to numerous accidents and spin outs. Sporadic power outages also occurred as snow-coated tree branches broke and took out power lines.

Radar loop of the snowstorm from the Des Moines WSR-88D Radar from 10am on May 1 to 6pm on May 3 (56 Hours!)

Snowfall totals map from May 1 to 3 across Iowa. The highest snowfall amounts were recorded in south central and north central Iowa.