National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Heat Wave Expands to the East Coast; Flash Flooding Likely in the Central Plains into the Midwest; Severe Thunderstorms in the Northeast

Dangerous, prolonged heat is ongoing in the Mid-South to Mid-Mississippi Valley and heat expands into the Northeast for a brief period today. Widely scattered instances of flash flooding due to heavy rains are forecast from northeast Kansas to much of Indiana. Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms are possible across parts of New England, northern Mid-Atlantic, and North Dakota. Read More >

Overview

A strong surface low pressure system and upper level trough ejected out of the Southern Rockies and transitioned east-northeast across the Central and Southern Plains from February 22 to 24, 2019.  This system caused widespread wintry precipitation over the central CONUS, especially over central and southern parts of Iowa on February 23rd. Snow developed across western to northern Iowa on the evening of the 23rd and continued into the overnight hours towards the morning of the 24th.   Widespread snowfall amounts of 5 to 15 inches fell across the northwest half of Iowa before ending by the afternoon of the 24th. In addition to the falling snow, very strong northwest winds of 30 to 45 mph caused widespread blizzard conditions from the late evening of the 23rd through much of the 24th. The snow pack prior to the storm was already a foot to nearly two feet over portions of western and northern Iowa, resulting the additional snow to mainly accumulate in drifts. 

Image
Photo by Chris Anderson - Location Unknown but somewhere in Iowa

Image Image Image

Photo by Kimberly Mae Albrecht - Callender, Iowa

Accumulated Snowfall Analysis

Photo by Courtney Bartz - Carpenter, Iowa

nws logo

Media use of NWS Web News Stories is encouraged!
Please acknowledge the NWS as the source of any news information accessed from this site.

nws logo