The National Weather Service Tuesday (Today), issued a winter storm watch for Thursday morning into Friday morning for much of the state. N-W-S meteorologist, Jim Lee, says the storm has been steadily heading for the state. “We’ve been watching this for several days — in fact all the way since last week — and things remain more or less on track,” Lee says. “We’re looking at a potentially significant winter storm coming up. Mostly on Thursday and then lingering into Thursday night and into Friday.”

Snow forecast totals range from six to 12 inches with this storm, but Lee says the snow won’t be the biggest concern.  “We’re not really trying to focus on the amounts too much. Most of the impact of this storm will come with the initial swath of snow moving across the state on Thursday. In which most of your accumulation is going to fall, but also there will be very strong winds,” according to Lee. “So for several hours as that moves through it’s gonna be near-zero visibilities, drifting snow, very dangerous conditions to be outside.”

Things will calm down as the storm pulls out Friday. Another storm is expected to move through early next week. “However with that system, the temperatures are quite a bit warmer — so there’s a question of how much will be rain and how much will be snow. Right now I wouldn’t necessarily say we are anticipating any high snow accumulations until we see how that pans out. We’ll keep an eye on that one,” Lee says.

(Radio Iowa)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A powerful winter storm system is heading for Nebraska and Iowa, promising a foot or more of snow and high winds.  The National Weather Service says in a winter storm watch that snow will begin falling in western Nebraska on Wednesday evening and then hamper morning traffic in Omaha and other cities as the system heads east.

Accumulations of more than a foot are possible east of a line from Hayes Center in southwest Nebraska north through Valentine in the north. In Iowa, up to a foot is expected in some spots west of Interstate 35.  The weather service says the heavy snow and 15-25 mph winds will make travel hazardous.

The Freese-Notis (Podcast) forecast for the KJAN listening area and weather data for Atlantic…

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Today: Sunny, with a high near 20. Wind chill values as low as -10. Windy, with a northwest wind 15 to 23 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 4. Wind chill values as low as -5. Northwest wind 6 to 14 mph becoming northeast after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 25. Wind chill values as low as -10. East wind 7 to 11 mph.
Wednesday Night: A 30 percent chance of snow, mainly after 3am. Cloudy, with a low around 17. Wind chill values as low as 5. Breezy, with a east wind 10 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.
**WINTER STORM WATCH THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING**
Thursday: Snow. High near 25. Windy, with a east wind 16 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.
Thursday Night: Snow likely, mainly before midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 19. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 24.

COUNTIES IN THE KJAN LISTENING AREA: SAC-CRAWFORD-CARROLL-AUDUBON-GUTHRIE-DALLAS-CASS-ADAIR-MADISON-ADAMS-UNION-TAYLOR & RINGGOLD- 401 AM CST TUE FEB 19 2013...

WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DES MOINES HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING.

* TIMING...SNOW WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA BY SUNRISE THURSDAY AND SPREAD NORTHEAST INTO CENTRAL IOWA BY MID TO LATE MORNING…AND TO NORTHEAST IOWA IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON.

* STORM TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM 5 TO 10 INCHES WITH LOCAL AMOUNTS UP TO 12 INCHES. THE HEAVIEST SNOW WILL FALL WEST OF INTERSTATE 35.

* WINDS/VISIBILITY...EASTERLY WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 15 TO 25 MPH AND GUSTY ON THURSDAY…THEN DIMINISH BY LATER THURSDAY NIGHT. SNOWFALL OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR DURING THE PERIOD OF STRONGEST WINDS WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO 1/4 MILE OR LESS FOR A PERIOD OF SEVERAL HOURS.

* IMPACTS...CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE RAPIDLY AS THE SNOW MOVES IN. AT THE ONSET…VISIBILITY WILL FALL TO UNDER 1/2 MILES WITHIN 15 MINUTES OR SO. TRAVEL WILL BECOME HAZARDOUS DUE TO POOR VISIBILITY AND THE ROADS RAPIDLY BECOMING ICY AND SNOW CLOGGED.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW…SLEET…OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.

AREA COUNITES: MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT & PAGE… 306 AM CST TUE FEB 19 2013 …WINTER STORM WATCH NOW IN EFFECT FROM THURSDAY MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING…

* TIMING...SNOW IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD INTO THE AREA VERY EARLY ON THURSDAY MORNING NEAR THE TIME OF THE MORNING COMMUTE. THE HEAVIEST OF THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO FALL FROM MID MORNING THURSDAY INTO EARLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. OCCASIONAL LIGHT SNOW IS THEN EXPECTED INTO THURSDAY EVENING.

* ACCUMULATIONS…THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR A GENERAL SNOWFALL IN EXCESS OF 6 INCHES.

* WINDS…EAST WINDS OF 10 TO 20 MPH WILL CREATE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW ON THURSDAY MORNING INTO EARLY AFTERNOON…BUT WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING LEADING TO LESS BLOWING SNOW. THE BLOWING SNOW IS MOST LIKELY IN OPEN AREAS.

* IMPACTS...TRAVEL WILL BECOME DIFFICULT DUE TO HEAVY FALLING SNOW ON THURSDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW…SLEET…OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL.

CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS. NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE PREPARATIONS.

315 PM CST MON FEB 18 2013

COUNTIES: MONONA-HARRISON-SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS-MONTGOMERY-FREMONT & PAGE-

…WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA/VALLEY HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

* TIMING…SNOW IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD INTO THE AREA WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY. * MAIN IMPACT…SNOWFALL POTENTIAL OF 8 TO 12 INCHES IS INDICATED WITH EAST WINDS 15 TO 25 MPH CAUSING SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING.

* OTHER IMPACTS…TRAVEL WILL BE DANGEROUS AND MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE IN SOME AREAS DUE TO SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW…SLEET…OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.

COUNTIES: PAGE -SHELBY-POTTAWATTAMIE-MILLS HARRISON- MONTGOMERY-FREMONT
1107 AM CST MON FEB 18 2013

A BAND OF SNOW SHOWERS…POSSIBLY MIXED WITH A LITTLE RAIN…WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH EASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHWEST IOWA AND PARTS OF SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON. VISIBILITIES MAY BE REDUCED TO LESS THAN HALF A MILE AT TIMES WITH SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD MAINLY BE LESS THAN AN INCH.

The National Weather Service said in its Hazardous Weather Outlook for this week, that a “Large and powerful storm system” will produce hazardous weather across the area for the latter half of the week. Their report issued this (Monday) morning, says moderate to heavy snowfall is expected late Wednesday night and Thursday evening, with light to moderate snow continuing into early Friday. At this time snowfall amounts are still uncertain, but accumulations in the 6 to 12 inch range are likely across much of the state with higher amounts especially in the northwest.

Freezing rain is also possible, mainly across southern and eastern Iowa, late in the day, Thursday. Strong and gusty winds will enhance those hazards, by reducing visibility in the form of blowing snow, the drifting of snow over roads, and damage to trees and power lines, when those ice-covered objects are swayed by the strong winds.

Another winter storm system is expected to affect the region next Sunday into Monday, and may produce additional snowfall.  Stay up-to-date on the latest weather developments, on KJAN.

The (podcast) weather forecast for Atlantic and the KJAN listening area, from Freese-Notis Meteorologist Dan Hicks, and weather data for Atlantic from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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