After blizzard, Iowa faces days of ‘life-threatening’ wind chills

As Des Moines’ second snowstorm of the week punished the area with more than 6 inches of fresh snow, Iowans could be forgiven for getting whiplash from how quickly the weather changed.

Des Moines received an estimated 21.3 inches of snow since Monday, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Chad Hahn. That would be just shy of the all-time record for a five-day stretch.

Des Moines’ highest five-day snow total came when 22.7 inches fell between Dec. 28, 1941, and Jan. 1, 1942, according to the NWS. The city got 20.2 inches of snow from March 14-18 1923 and 17.7 inches from Dec. 5-9, 2009.

Elsewhere in the state, totals from Friday’s storm topped 1 foot with Fairfield reporting 14 inches of fresh snow, 13 in Muscatine and Washington with 12 inches.

But as snow drifts grow ever higher, temperatures will sink to dangerously cold levels over the next few days as arctic air flows into the Midwest.

Wind chills were expected to dip into the negative 20s overnight on Friday and won’t climb above 0 until Wednesday, said NWS meteorologist Alexis Jimenez.

Des Moines’ second-warmest December on record

Des Moines had an average temperature of 37.4 degrees in December, making it the warmest December since 1889, according to WOI. Nine days had temperatures of more than 50 degrees, including Dec. 7 when the city hit a high of 61 degrees. Only on Dec. 31 did the city have a high temperature below freezing, and on that day the high was 31 degrees.

Overall Iowa experienced its third-warmest December in 151 years, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

‘Wind chills can be life-threatening’

Just last week Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said before an interview with the Des Moines Register that he was thankful that he had not gotten to experience the worst of Iowa’s winter weather as he campaigned. Now, ‘life-threatening’ wind chills are on the way.

Within about a week in January, the National Weather Service has issued a flurry of winter weather watches and warnings. In the last week, it has issued a blizzard warning, winter storm warnings, winter storm watches, winter weather advisories, wind chill warnings, wind chill watches and wind chill advisories.

On Wednesday night the weather service even issued a rare snow squall warning when a snow squall hit the Des Moines metro area, bringing 1.2 inches of snow in a short duration.

The snow Friday made travel conditions dangerous, but sub-zero temperatures will settle in through at least Tuesday, according to the NWS. Arctic air will spill into the Midwest, and could lead to record low temperatures of negative 20 degrees or negative 30 degrees, according to an NWS forecast.

On Saturday, Des Moines will have a high temperature of 5 degrees and a low of minus 13 degrees, according to the NWS. Sunday’s high of minus 5 degrees will not feel so high, and winds could gust as high as 20 to 30 mph. Wind chills on Sunday could make it feel as cold as minus 30 to minus 35 degrees.

Some places in the Midwest could approach real temperatures of 40 degrees below zero, according to the NWS. These extreme temperatures can cause frostbite within minutes, an NWS forecast warned.

“These temperatures and wind chills can be life-threatening for stranded motorists,” the NWS warned.

Temperatures will slowly rise throughout the start of next week, but wind chills are expected to stay below 0 until Wednesday. For Monday’s Iowa Caucuses, Des Moines has a forecast high of minus 3 degrees. Tuesday’s temperatures could finally rise above zero with a forecast high of 1 degree, according to the NWS.

Friday blizzard caused delays and dangerous travel

Friday’s storm hobbled much of the Midwest. Winter storm warnings were issued from eastern Nebraska and northern Missouri to the upper peninsula of Michigan. The greatest impacts from Friday’s snowstorm were expected place portions of Wisconsin and Michigan where more than a foot of snow was expected and winds of 40 to 50 mph could produce blizzard conditions.

In Iowa, large portions of the state’s highways were rated “travel not advised” for most of Friday as Iowa Department of Transportation plows struggled to keep up with Mother Nature. On social media, the DOT said some roads were covered in drifts within minutes of plows passing through.

The Iowa State Patrol said at 10 p.m. that it had responded to more than 70 crashes across the state, including 14 with injuries and 436 calls to assist motorists.

An “energetic” jet stream is driving a pair of storms across the country, and leading to this weekend’s active weather, to the NWS. In the southeast thunderstorms producing tornadoes and damaging winds could flare up this weekend, according to the NWS.

Des Moines Register reporter Victoria Reyna-Rodriguez contributed to this report.

Philip Joens covers public safety, retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.