HEAVY SNOW COMING DOWN... WINTER STORM UPDATE!

A wintry mix, heavy snow coming down, strong winds, thundersnow... it's all been happening since last night. There have already been some big totals on the board.. here's the latest snowfall totals across Iowa (as of 8 AM):

Snow is still coming down and will continue to do so through the day. And you can already see the sharp cutoff in the northeastern corner of the state. And much of southwestern Iowa will remain out of the snow. This is reflected in the Winter Storm Warnings and Winter Weather Advisories -

There will continue to be some heavy bands of snow plus strong winds which will lead to low visibility. Here's the HRRR (hi-resolution rapid refresh) model showing the rest of the snow on Saturday.

Southeastern Iowa into northern and central Illinois will experience a wintry mix with some sleet accumulation. Wintry mix and snow will be falling up until about 7 pm in Iowa and continue to push east.

There have already been sustained winds of 20 to 25 mph and gusts close to 35. Snow will really pile up and here's what the HRRR is showing for snowfall totals -

One shift this morning has been to cut Dubuque out of the heaviest snow. I wouldn't be surprised to see a downgrade to a Winter Weather Advisory once this becomes more clear. There could still be a few inches but there will be a very sharp cutoff.

Streets are slick and winds are kicking. It's going to be tough going on the roads into the afternoon. Terry is at the station this morning and you can watch on CBS 2 and Fox 28 and see updates on Twitter and Facebook. He'll also provide another update here later on today.

This is also heavy, wet snow that you likely won't be able to shovel all at once. It will be difficult, so be sure to take breaks!

RK