Iowachaser.com

A massive winter storm is currently in progress across the upper Midwest.  Blizzard warnings are up for a large part of Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin at this hour.  What was forecast as a storm to affect mainly northern Iowa and Minnesota, has in fact traveled further south and affected a larger portion of the area.

All weather forecasts / model data indicated that the system was to travel somewhere near the Iowa/Minnesota border this morning.  Meaning that the bulk of the snow would fall in northern Iowa, etc.  Low and behold (pun intended ) the system moved further south and caught all of us in Central Iowa by surprise when we awoke this morning!  Nothing like waking to a Blizzard Warning and a snow forecast of 5-8″ when the night before, hardly an inch for forecast.  All I can say is that no matter how much technology we have, mother nature still rules!

Many roads at this hour are impassable, as the IDOT has pulled many of their plows off roads due to Blizzard conditions.  You can see via the map below, many roads are closed, with no travel recommended on several others.

Here’s a map showing the incredibly tight pressure gradient on the backside of the low, resulting in winds 20-30 with gusts to 50 and above. (Click to enlarge)

As you can see, cold air is continuing the filter into the state from the west.  It’s going to be a very cold and windy weekend.

After a morning MCS rolled through the area, I honestly wasn’t expecting much of anything this evening. Apparently I was wrong!

Listening to the skywarn net on the way home, I heard a storm was quickly developing west of Knoxville about 40 miles. Once home, I checked the radar and what do ya know..It was moving directly East! I quickly gathered the gear and headed out the door.

I decided to head south and try to view the storm from the always popular south side of it. I managed to get to the intersection of Marion County road G-76 and state Hwy 14 before it arrived. The lighting was great and man were the skies dark! Just then another Tornado Warning went out for this baby. I backtracked a couple of miles and then stopped to snap a few still pics. The shelf cloud was awesome!

I then traveled back to the SE to stay ahead of it. Apparently it was no longer going 30 knots, as it quickly caught up with me. Once in Albia,Iowa; I turned west on Hwy 34 and decided to head home as it was a linear type storm and starting to bow out.

Final thoughts: It was nice to be home for a change when a storm came a knockin’! (I’m usually off chasing somewhere else when things hit near the homestead)