ANOTHER MAJOR SNOW, WOW...

ONE MAJOR STORM DOWN, ANOTHER TO COME

After 26 consecutive hours of snow, I watched the last flakes peter out and end Tuesday evening. The official tally in Dubuque, 12.2 inches with a couple inches of compaction. It was super heavy and big thanks go out to my friend and neighbor Mike for plowing me out. I was never so glad to see the green John Deere tractor coming down the road with Mike manning the ship. Thanks buddy!

For about 3/4ths of my area this was quite a storm. Many of us saw totals in the 9-15 inch range. These are the totals reported by the NWS and Iowa Mesonet. You will notice an area in far EC Iowa and western Illinois where a pocket of stubborn dry air chewed into the amounts there. More on that below.

Most of the southeast half of Iowa had 10-15 inch totals, with 12-15 inch amounts clustered around Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.

Expanding the view into Illinois. You can see a sharp cut-off to the heavy snow just east of the Mississippi.

The was due to the track of the system. Its dry slot, which can clearly be seen, came 75 miles further west than was indicated. That minor shift forced the deformation band (heavy snow swath) 75 miles further west as well. That is why the SE half of Iowa took the brunt of the storm and western Illinois fared better.

As expected, the pattern has really turned around here after one of the warmest Decembers on record. Last month, December 22nd, only 13 percent of the nation had snow on the ground

This storm alone laid down this swath. At last report, 47 percent of the nation now has snow on the ground.

AND WE ARE NOT DONE AS ANOTHER MAJOR STORM EYES ON THE AREA.

Before the next big deal gets here, another compact piece of energy quickly slides though the area Wednesday night. It looks to have enough lift to generate a period of light snow, especially across the north, at that time. While amounts will be light, generally an inch or less, some of the high res-models show a narrow band of 1.5 to 2 inches possible. That's something to fine tune later Wednesday.

Then the focus turns to towards Friday and another shot of energy ejecting out of the SW. This system has the added benefit of Arctic air with the ability to see rapid intensification. Still 48 hours away, the track is not set in stone, but the EURO has consistently shown a path that would lead to more significant snow in my area. The GFS made a shift in that direction as well. As such, if trends hold, this could be a high impact storm with plenty of wind and a drier snow that will blow and drift, especially on top of what's now on the ground. The surface low has regularly been shown deepening to 970-975mb which is a ripper if it happens.

This is the storm as the EURO depicts it Friday evening at 6:00pm. That's a bit east for my area to take a full-fledged hit. That said, it's very close to being a big problem and is still a major storm.

Here is what the EURO and GFS are suggesting for snow totals as of Tuesday night.

The EURO, (this could be an inch or so high as it includes what falls Wednesday night).

The GFS, with the same qualification of a little snow added from Wednesday night.

The regional GEM (Canadian)

With a potent NW flow in place following the storm, the door is open for Arctic air to ride over the carpet of snow. Much below normal temperatures are expected January 15th-23. That includes sub-zero cold at times and bitter wind chills. These are the temperature departures January 15th. (35-40 below normal)

Lows the 15th

Wind chills of 40 below the 15th.

Had enough yet. I know my brain has. Until next time...roll weather...TS

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