THE PARTY IS UNDERWAY....WINTER STORM UPDATE!
My work shift at the TV station lasted until midnight Friday night, I have to be back at 6:30am for special coverage of the snowstorm. Most likely I will be on the air much of the morning and early afternoon. If that's the case I may not have much of an opportunity to post. It's not that I don't want to or don't care, it's job related and I hope you all understand.
That said, I am taking some time now (11:30pm Friday) to lay out what looks to be a high impact winter storm for those who get in on the snow.
The Weather Prediction Center has issued these odds for snowfall totals greater than 2, 8, and 12 inches.
Additionally, the hi-res HRRR which only goes out 18 hours was showing wind gusts to 43 kts early Saturday morning between Cedar Rapids and the Quad Cites. That's the equivalent of a 50 mph gust.
Even with the wet snow, gusts should produce some blowing and drifting reducing visibility greatly in the heavier snow bands. The HRRR shows visibility of only 2/10's of a mile around 8:00am.
About the only significant change to mention Friday night is the snow band has shifted a bit further southwest with dry air eating into SW Wisconsin and far NE Iowa. Little snow is expect NE of Dubuque or SW of Ottumwa. Any place in between is looking at totals in the 7-13" range. The region 0f 10-13" is especially hard to predict due to the effects of banding and convection. I do expect there will be places in my area that hit or go over the 12" mark.
The combination of heavy wet snow and high winds will likely cause very hazardous driving conditions into the early to mid-afternoon hours. I won't put up any snow forecasts because the event is on-going and they will not accurately depict what's fallen or what's to come.
Having said that, just to give you a guide, here is a new graphic from the NWS in the Quad Cities showing what they are advertising for snow totals. This was issued at 10:47pm Friday night. Food for thought.
That's the best I can do for you now. I'll get back to you as soon as I can get time away from my on-ai duties. Roll weather and white gold...TS
