(Radio Iowa) – This week will end much as it started, with a whopper snowstorm. Forecasters say a Winter Storm Warning is posted for 98 of Iowa’s 99 counties from tonight (Thursday) through tomorrow night, with near-blizzard conditions likely. National Weather Service meteorologist Kristi Carter says it’ll be another doozy. “Our snow amounts for much of central Iowa are going to range from around five to 10 inches,” Carter says, “and that is also going to be combined with on Friday afternoon into early Saturday, winds that are going to be gusting over 40 miles an hour.” While the snowstorm that ran Monday into Tuesday dropped up to 15 inches of heavy, wet snow on the state, she says this approaching storm will produce a lighter type of snowflake.

“That snow is going to be very fluffy and blowable,” Carter says, “and those gusty winds, we also already have snow on the ground from the storms we’ve had already this week, that’s going to lead to a significant blowing snow threat especially later Friday into Saturday.” That could mean white-out conditions and a very unsafe recipe for motorists, particularly if there’s icing on the roads. She notes this next storm will be much colder than the one earlier in the week. “Temperatures will be falling into single digits by early Saturday,” Carter says. “Our wind chills are going to be falling well below zero tomorrow night into Saturday, and then will continue to fall Saturday night into Sunday with wind chills of negative-20 to around negative-40.” The forecast calls for the -high- temperatures on Sunday to only be in the negative single digits, with lows approaching 20-below. Our furnaces will be working overtime as it doesn’t appear that there will be much of a change for days.

“We are looking at a small warm-up towards the middle of the week, around the Wednesday timeframe, where we’re looking at temperatures that start to reach the teens again,” Carter says, “so that’s at least better than the single digits but certainly looking pretty cold through the week.” Keep up with the changing forecast at weather-dot-gov and stay informed about road conditions by visiting 5-1-1-i-a-dot-org.

Today: A 20 percent chance of snow after 5pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 19. Wind chill values as low as 5. Northwest wind 7 to 11 mph becoming northeast in the afternoon.

Tonight: **WINTER STORM WARNING in effect from 6-p.m. through midnight Friday**Snow, mainly after 8pm. The snow could be heavy at times. Patchy blowing snow after 11pm. Low around 7. Wind chill values as low as -10. Windy, with a north northeast wind 11 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.

Friday: Snow likely, mainly before noon. Areas of blowing snow. Cloudy, with a temperature falling to around 7 by 8am. Wind chill values as low as -15. Windy, with a north northwest wind 22 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Friday Night: Patchy blowing snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -5. Windy, with a northwest wind 20 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.

Saturday: A 20 percent chance of snow after noon. Patchy blowing snow before 8am, then patchy blowing snow after 11am. Mostly cloudy and cold, with a high near 1. Windy.

Saturday Night: Patchy blowing snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -19. Windy.

Sunday: Mostly sunny and cold, with a high near -7. Blustery.

Wednesday’s High in Atlantic was 27. The Low was 12. Snowfall in Atlantic was four-tenths of an inch (.4″), which yielded .04″ liquid precipitation. Last year on this date, the High was 33 and the Low was 25. The Record High for Jan. 11th in Atlantic, was 55 in 1986. The Record Low was -22, in 1892. Sunrise today: 7:45. Sunset: 5:10.

Today: A 40 percent chance of snow, mainly after 2pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 26. Wind chill values as low as zero. South wind 7 to 15 mph becoming west southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of snow before 8pm. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 9. West northwest wind 6 to 11 mph.
Tomorrow: A 20 percent chance of snow after noon. Increasing clouds, with a high near 19. Wind chill values as low as zero. Northwest wind 6 to 11 mph becoming north northeast in the morning.
Tom. Night: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 5. Blustery, with a north northeast wind 11 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
Friday: A 50 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy and cold, with a high near 10. Windy.
Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -6. Windy.
Saturday: A 30 percent chance of snow, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy and cold, with a high near 3. Windy.

Atlantic (KJAN), 4.6″

Massena, 5.0″

Glenwood: 5 inches

Malvern: 5.5 inches

Sioux City: 11 inches

Winterset: 10.0 inches

Earlham: 9.3

Adel: 8.0

Panora: 6.5

Creston: 6.3

WINTER STORM WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 6-P.M.

Early this morning: Snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Patchy blowing snow. Steady temperature around 30. Blustery, with a north wind 17 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
Today: Snow, mainly before 11am. Patchy blowing snow before 5pm. Temperature falling to around 22 by 5pm. Wind chill values as low as 5. Windy, with a north wind 18 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 12. Wind chill values as low as zero. Blustery, with a northwest wind 13 to 18 mph becoming west southwest 5 to 10 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph.
Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of snow after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 28. Wind chill values as low as 5. South wind 6 to 11 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
Thursday: A 20 percent chance of snow after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 20.
Friday: A 40 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 15. Windy.

Monday’s High in Atlantic was 35. The Low was 28. As of 24-hour snowfall in Atlantic (ending at 7-a.m.), amounted to 4.6-inches. Last year on this date, the High was 48 and the Low was 21. The Record High for Jan. 9th in Atlantic, was 58 in 2002. The Record Low was -23, in 1974. Sunrise today: 7:46. Sunset: 5:08.

(Radio Iowa) – After three consecutive winters dominated by the La Nina weather pattern, we’re now a few weeks into an El Nino winter, which state climatologist Justin Glisan says could very well mean significant changes ahead for Iowa’s weather. “We’re in a moderate-to-strong El Nino and we have a 54% chance of this being a historically strong El Nino, meaning, exceedingly warm sea surface temperature anomalies,” Glisan says. “When we look at wintertime conditions for El Nino, we typically see warmer temperatures through December, January, February.”

That falls in line with what happened in Iowa last month, as snowfall during December was far below normal in what’s usually the snowiest month of the year. Plus, Glisan says, December concluded nine-degrees warmer than average statewide. The last El Nino was in 2019 and Glisan says there’s a consistent pattern over the decades. “If we look back at strong El Nino events, going back to 1950, we’ve had seven,” Glisan says. “Six of those, we’ve seen generally wetter conditions across the state.”

Iowa has been mired in drought for more than three-and-a-half years, and Glisan says we experienced what he calls a “snow drought” during December, while a shift could be coming in the weeks ahead. “In El Nino and strong El Ninos, we generally see below-average snowfall across much of the state, but not necessarily drier conditions,” Glisan says. “We see more rainfall, we see more wintry mix-type of precipitations. So if you couple that together with the 30-year trend, there is a potential for wetter conditions through winter along with those warmer temperatures.”

From year to year, Glisan says the average temperature over 365 days usually doesn’t even vary by one degree, up or down, but 2023 ended more than two-degrees warmer than the norm in Iowa, putting it in the state’s top 20 warmest years on record.

Today: *WINTER STORM WARNING in effect at 9-a.m.*Snow, mainly after 11am. The snow could be heavy at times. High near 33. E/SE wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
Tonight: Snow. Patchy blowing snow after 5am. Low around 24. Blustery, with an east wind 15 to 20 mph becoming north after midnight & gusting to near 30 mph. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.
Tuesday: Snow likely, mainly before noon. Patchy blowing snow. Cloudy, with a temperature rising to near 27 by 9am, then falling to around 21 during the remainder of the day. Wind chill values as low as 5. NW @ 20-35 mph. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.
Tue. Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 7. NW @ 15-25.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 28.
Wednesday Night: A 20% chance of snow before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 9.
Thursday: A 20% chance of snow after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 17.

Sunday’s High in Atlantic was 30. The Low was 21. Last year on this date, the High was 41 and the Low was 9. The Record High for Jan. 8th in Atlantic, was 65 in 2003. The Record Low was -19, in 1970. Sunrise today: 7:46. Sunset: 5:07.

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 32. West northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming southeast this afternoon.
Tonight: Cloudy, with a low around 25. Southeast wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts to around 20 mph.
Monday: *Winter Storm Watch in effect beginning at 6-a.m.**Snow, mainly after noon. High near 34. SE winds at 15-25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Mon. Night: Snow. Low around 24. East wind 10 to 15 mph becoming north after midnight & gusting to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
Tuesday: A 50 percent chance of snow. High near 28. Windy.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 8. Windy.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 28.

Saturday’s High in Atlantic was 32. The Low this morning was 22. We received .1″ (one-tenth) of an inch of snow at the KJAN studios. That amounted to a liquid value of just .01″.  Last year on this date, the High was 28 and the Low was 8. The Record High for Jan. 7th in Atlantic, was 63 in 2003. The Record Low was -27, in 1912. Sunrise today: 7:46. Sunset: 5:06.

Friday’s High in Atlantic was 34. The Low was 24. Last year on this date, the High was 40 and the Low was 13. The Record High for Jan. 5th in Atlantic, was 56 in 1933. The Record Low was -26, in 1910. Sunrise today: 7:46. Sunset: 5:05.

Today: Patchy fog or freezing fog before 9am. Cloudy, with a high near 36. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight: A slight chance of snow between 8pm and 9pm. Cloudy, with a low around 25. Southeast wind around 6 mph becoming southwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
Saturday: A 30 percent chance of snow, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west northwest in the afternoon. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 32.
Monday: Snow, possibly mixed with rain, mainly after noon. High near 34. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Thursday’s High in Atlantic was 33. The Low was 20. Last year on this date, the High was 31 and the Low was 15. The Record High for Jan. 5th in Atlantic, was 62 in 2012. The Record Low was -26, in 2010. Sunrise today: 7:46. Sunset: 5:04.