Electricity was lost to tens of thousands of homes and businesses in central and southern Iowa as snow laden trees fell onto power lines. The heaviest snowfall accumulations included 11.3 inches at Knoxville and an amazing 13.0 inches southwest of Mineola in Pottawattamie County. Two bands of heavy snow developed, one extending from Council Bluffs northeast through Boone and the other extending from northern Ringgold County northeast to around Cedar Rapids. On the morning of the 8 th reported low temperatures included -2☏ at Burlington, -8☏ at Bedford and Grinnell, -11☏ at Sac City, -12☏ at Atlantic and Le Mars, -13☏ at Cherokee and Perry, and -14☏ at Guthrie Center.Ī major winter storm moved into western Iowa just before midnight on October 25 th and spread across about the southeastern two thirds of the state on the 26 th. The lowest reported temperatures in Iowa that morning included -12☏ at Audubon, -13☏ at Perry, -14☏ at Le Mars, -15☏ at Sheldon, -16☏ at Guthrie Center, -17☏ at Cherokee, and -19☏ at Hawarden. On the 7 th many stations set daily record lows and at numerous locations this is the earliest date on record on which the temperature has fallen below zero, including at Des Moines where the low was -3☏. Amazingly, even colder weather would settle across Iowa a few days later with nearly the entire state falling below zero on the mornings of November 7 th and 8 th. The lowest temperatures reported on the morning of the 4 th included -7☏ at Sioux Rapids, -9☏ at Hawarden, -10☏ at Sheldon, and -11☏ at Cherokee. Des Moines and Waterloo both established daily records with a low of 4☏. With the fresh snow pack in place, on November 4 th nearly every reporting station in the state fell into the single digits and remarkably some western stations reported their earliest subzero temperatures on record, including Sioux City where the low was -3° F. As the storm system moved further northeast it dumped 36.9 inches of snow at Duluth which, at the time, was the largest storm total snowfall accumulation on record in Minnesota until it was surpassed in 1994.Įxtreme cold followed the crippling Halloween Storm from November 4-8, 1991. Highways and interstates were closed across most of the state and Halloween festivities were cancelled at many locations. The damage and hazardous travel conditions were so severe and extensive that 52 of the 99 counties in Iowa were declared disaster areas. Stong winds produced blizzard conditions into November 2 nd. Total snow accumulations of 8 inches or more blanketed the area with 15.0 inches falling at Estherville. In northwest Iowa, the precipitation fell as all snow. Total ice accumulations ranged from 1 to 2 inches from southwest into north central Iowa and 2 to 3 inches across southern and southeast Minnesota. Snow moved into southern Iowa on the afternoon of the 30 th and changed to mixed precipitation and ice on the morning of the 31 st and continuing into late afternoon on November 1 st. Also in Des Moines, there were 5,000 basketball fans attending the girls state tournament that spent the night in the Veterans Memorial Stadium building.ġ991: A major winter storm pounded the upper Midwest from October 30 th into November 2 nd with some of the most severe effects occurring on Halloween. In fact, Des Moines and Dubuque authorities prohibited any travel to or from their cities. Even after the heavy snow ended on the 15 th, frozen surfaces and high winds continued to make travel impossible across most of the state. As a result, thousands of trees, utility poles and lines were snapped or heavily damaged. There were even reports in northeastern Iowa with drifts as deep as 15 feet! Across about the southern half of the state, the heavy snow remained very wet and froze to all surfaces. Winds gusting to as high as 60 mph caused severe blowing and drifting of the snow, commonly producing drifts up to 10 feet deep. The highest reported storm total snowfall accumulations included 12.5 inches at New Hampton, 12.0 inches at Cresco, and 10.0 inches at Clarion, Fayette, and Fort Dodge. The heaviest snowfall occurred overnight on the 14 th-15 th, with 4 inches or more falling in a wide swath from southwest to northeast across the state and some areas within that band receiving 8 to 10 inches. Precipitation began in southern Iowa as rain on the morning of the 14 th then started to switch to a heavy wet snow by afternoon. On March 14-16, 1959, a major winter storm struck Iowa as a potent low pressure center moved east northeast out of Kansas into central Illinois resulting in 6 deaths and 1 injury.
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