Iowa Weather: Ice Storm Warnings for Central Iowa

Updated: December 13, 2024, 5:29 a.m. CST

STATE AND IT’S JUST GOOD TO BE CAREFUL. Whatever you do tonight, you must be vigilant. IT’S A DAY OF WEATHER WARNING, ESPECIALLY THIS EVENING, BECAUSE ONCE THE SUN SETS IT COULD GET REALLY DIFFICULT as you see freezing drizzle and freezing rain approaching. TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN SO VERY COLD IN THE RECENT DAYS, BELOW ZERO IN SOME CASES, THAT ONCE THE RAIN MOVES IN, WE WILL QUICKLY OBSERVE ICE ACCUMULATION THROUGHOUT THE REGION. The good news is: If you have to run an errand today, try to get some shopping done by around 7 p.m. WE ARE GOOD. It’s just cloudy and cold. YOU NEED THIS HEAVY JACKET BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE ICE. AFTER 8:00 we will start to see some freezing drizzle and then it will increase to freezing rain during the overnight hours, with significant icing. DEFINITELY POSSIBLE. This will continue until tomorrow morning. THEN IT COLD RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. This will end the icing threat, but not before we may see isolated power outages or possibly minor tree damage. THIS IS THE ICE STORM WARNING HERE IN DES MOINES. We have a winter weather advisory in place for the freezing weather, just slightly reduced amounts of ice but still in effect until tomorrow morning. BUT THIS IS THE ICE STORM WARNING FOR GRUNDY CENTER, MARSHALLTOWN, NEWTON, GRINNELL UNTIL NOON TOMORROW. ALSO INCLUDES AREAS SUCH AS CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA CITY. So a good bit of central and eastern Iowa in this ice storm warning where we could see over a quarter of an inch of ice. And that’s enough to cause a few problems this morning. It’s cold, but there are still clouds that move on. WE WILL SEE MORE CLOUDS THAN SUN TODAY. UNFORTUNATELY. VERY COLD, HIGH PRESSURE. NOW CHECK OUR WEATHER, AS WE WORK INTO THE EVENING NOW, HUMIDITY WILL TRY TO ROLL INTO THE COLD AIR WE HAVE PRESENT. SO THE TEMPERATURES OVER THE SURFACE ACTUALLY Climb UP TO 30°C ABOVE FREEZING. SO WE GET THE RAIN NOW FALLING IN OUR TEMPERATURES BELOW FREEZING. It must be very cold out there. For most of us it’s single digits. Nine in Grimes, seven in Altoona. It’s 10 a.m. at the airport here in Des Moines. EVEN COLDER NORTHWEST OR NORTHEAST IOWA. MASON CITY ONE THREE IN WATERLOO, IT’S NINE IN CHARITON. AND WITH THE BREEZE, most of us have wind chills below zero. THIS MORNING IT FEELS LIKE FIVE LOW HERE IN DES MOINES, LOW TEN IN FORT DODGE. So it will be a cold day with plenty of cloud cover. THIS MORNING WE COULD SEE A LITTLE SUNSHINE FROM TIME TO TIME, BUT MORE CLOUDS AND SUN FOR MOST OF THE DAY. 6 PM INTO THE LOW 20S HERE THIS AFTERNOON. About 24 is about as warm as it gets in my opinion. HERE COMES THE freezing drizzle. FREEZING RAIN. 5:00 SOUTHWEST IOWA. SO ATLANTIC TO CRESTON TO LAMONI. SOME IMPACT BEGINS AT 7-8:00 AM. This freezing drizzle keeps coming into the subway. FREEZING RAIN FOR OVERNIGHT. Things may be a little quieter around 3 a.m., but another wave of freezing rain moves in just before sunrise. And then around 9:00 a.m. we warmed up to 32 degrees. CHANGES TO RAIN AND SAY ICE THREAT. BUT HERE IT GOES A LITTLE LONGER, ONLY TO OUR EAST. THAT’S WHY WE HAVE THIS ICE STORM WARNING. This is where the icing potential is greatest. DO YOU SEE THE DARKER COLORS? YES. TO MARSHALLTOWN GRINNELL EASTWARD. WE COULD SEE SOME SIGNIFICANT IMPLICATIONS THERE. WE’RE TALKING ABOUT SOME MINOR TREE DAMAGE, SOME SPOTTED POWER OUTAGES. NOW IT’S TIME TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS CHARGED. YOU HAVE THE EXTRA BATTERY IF YOU NEED IT. MAYBE SOME FLASHLIGHTS JUST IN CASE YOU ENTER SOME POWER OUTAGES THERE IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN Iowa THAT ARE BEGINNING TO MELT IN 35 AFTERNOON RAIN. 42 ON SUNDAY. This looks A LITTLE BETTER. 45 ON MONDAY. ANOTHER ROUND LIKE THIS

Iowa Weather: Ice Storm Warnings for Central Iowa

Updated: December 13, 2024, 5:29 a.m. CST

For Friday morning, most of Iowa will be cold and calm with temperatures in the single digits to around 10 degrees. The wind has brought the cold down to almost zero in many places. We will continue to experience calm weather for most of the day, but ice storm warnings have been issued for parts of central Iowa starting this evening. Closures | Interactive Radar | Weather Warnings Cloudy and cold conditions are expected for most of Friday. The morning drive will see temperatures in the single digits and below freezing, with wind chills near freezing. There may be a few rays of sunshine, but expect more clouds than sunshine today. Temperatures are starting to warm up, but will only reach the low 20s this afternoon. The dry weather will continue into the late afternoon and early evening, so the journey home should also be problem-free. Light drizzle or freezing rain is expected over western Iowa early this evening, especially after 5 p.m. This will initially impact certain areas around Atlantic, Creston and Lamoni. The freezing drizzle and light freezing rain were then expected to expand to the Des Moines metro between 7 and 9 p.m. and spread across the rest of the state between midnight and 3 a.m. Freezing rain should generally be light, but ice accumulation will occur with temperatures around 20°C. Rain rates are expected to increase between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. Saturday, leading to larger ice accumulations. This is most likely to occur east of Des Moines, affecting areas from Ottumwa to Marshalltown and further west to Newton and Pella. Ice accumulations of about or slightly more than a quarter of an inch are possible in this area. That’s enough to not only cause treacherous rides, but also potentially cause minor tree damage and isolated power outages. In the Des Moines metro, ice accumulations should be slightly lighter and end around 7 to 8 a.m. as temperatures move higher toward freezing. However, very slippery roads and light ice formation on trees and power lines are to be expected. The warmer temperatures should spread across the rest of the state during the morning hours, turning the freezing rain into a plain, cold rain and ending the threat of icing. Forecast for Des Moines: Today: Cloudy. High 25F. Winds out of the east at 10 to 20 mph. Tonight: Winter weather warning. It will be cloudy and light freezing rain is expected, becoming heavier overnight. Some icing probably. Low 25F. Wind Directions: East easterly winds at 10 to 20 mph. Tomorrow: early freezing rain, turning to rain in the afternoon. Some icing possible. High temperature around 35°F. Winds out of the east at 10 to 20 mph. Tomorrow night: The showers will ease in the evening, it will be foggy overnight. Low 32F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.

DES MOINES, Iowa –

For Friday morning, most of Iowa will be cold and calm with temperatures in the single digits to around 10 degrees. The wind has brought the cold down to almost zero in many places. We will continue to experience calm weather for most of the day, but ice storm warnings have been issued for parts of central Iowa starting this evening.

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Cloudy and cold weather is expected for most of Friday. The morning drive will see temperatures in the single digits and below freezing, with wind chills near freezing. There may be a few rays of sunshine, but expect more clouds than sunshine today. Temperatures are starting to warm up, but will only reach the low 20s this afternoon. The dry weather will continue into the late afternoon and early evening, so the journey home should be easy.

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Forecast for Des Moines

Today: Cloudy. High 25F. Winds out of the east at 10 to 20 mph.

Tonight: Note on winter weather. It will be cloudy and light freezing rain is expected, becoming heavier overnight. Some icing probably. Low 25F. Wind Direction: East-East at 10 to 20 miles per hour.

Morning: Freezing rain early turning to rain in the afternoon. Some icing possible. High temperature around 35°F. Winds out of the east at 10 to 20 mph.

Tomorrow evening: The showers will subside in the evening and it will be foggy overnight. Low 32F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.