WINTER STORM WARNINGS ISSUED
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WINTER STORM WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES FLYING
A fast moving but potent winter storm will bring snow, wind, and sharply colder conditions to the area by Thursday afternoon. Precipitation will start as light rain in the morning and quickly change to snow as the cold air arrives by early afternoon. Winds gusting to 35-40 mph along with rapidly falling temperatures will cause considerable blowing and drifting snow. Near whiteout conditions are possible at times in the open country Thursday afternoon and night. A winter storm warning is in effect for much of the area near and north of I-80 where 2-5" of snow is likely. A few local spots could see 6" in a narrow band north and west of the Quad Cities. Further south winter weather advisories are in effect where snow totals of 1-2" are anticipated near and south of HWY 34. Further west a blizzard warning is in effect for parts of central Iowa.
The official snowfall forecast from the NWS looks like this. It's not recently updated so I would be careful with this product as some adjustments will likely be made.
Turning to the models, here is the latest. Keep in mind these are a range of the various solutions and are what is used to create a blend of the most likely outcome. What we look to find in the guidance is model consistency.
The EURO
The GFS
The 12K NAM
The 3K NAM
The adverse conditions are not anticipated until late morning in the west and early afternoon in the east. Rapid changes are expected during that time frame. Stay tuned for later updates on what could be a dangerous travel period later Thursday. Roll weather...TS
