(Radio Iowa) – Forecasters say the approaching winter storm threatens to bring heavy snowfall to much of Iowa, with wide areas of the state expecting up to a foot of snow, along with strong winds that could make driving very hazardous. Meteorologist Peter Speck, at the National Weather Service office in Davenport, says eastern Iowa may get the worst of this storm. “Snowfall totals from the storm have gone up to about eight to 12 inches,” Speck says, “and we’re expecting the bulk of that from the Quad Cities metro westward into the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City metro, so it’s going to be busy here over the next 24 to 36 hours.” Some forecast models show isolated areas of eastern Iowa may get 14 inches of snow, or more.

A Winter Storm Warning is posted through Tuesday evening for all but a few counties in north-central Iowa. Besides the potentially heavy snow, Speck says those wind gusts will be wicked. “We have winds forecasted to go up to about 40 miles per hour or so, especially beginning tomorrow afternoon,” Speck says. “With that snow and wind together, it’s going to combine to produce very dangerous visibilities, potentially below a quarter mile at times, which can make for very treacherous travel. In addition to that, blowing and drifting snow as well, which could cause additional road impacts.” If there’s any good news about this storm, he says it’s that temperatures will be relatively moderate for the season.

“A lot of these storms traditionally have temperatures in the 20s, and when you combine that with the wind, it can produce wind chills in the teens,” Speck says. “But with this storm here, we’re expecting temperatures generally in the low 30s, and with that wind, it will help lead to temperatures, especially tomorrow afternoon on the backside of the storm, with wind chills dropping into the teens.” Speck says much colder temperatures are likely to move in later in the week, along with the possibility of more snow this coming weekend.