3/5 to 3/14 - Classic Multi-storm event for the first half of March

[FV-Mike]

LOT added the next row of counties to the south to the WWA . 2-5 forecasted

[OttumwaSnomow]

Can we for once get a reasonable  forecast for this county? These are some forecast tomorrow.  18 hrs out.

Dmx nws 100% rain

Dvn nws mixed precip (county east & warmer)

Twc 3 to 5" snow

 

 

[hawkstwelve]

18z Euro a slight improvement for FSD, MN, and WI through Friday AM.

[Hawkeye]

50 minutes ago, hawkstwelve said:

18z Euro a slight improvement for FSD, MN, and WI through Friday AM.

The Euro shows a clear trend toward lifting the best snow northeastward, mostly out of Iowa.

The DMX snow graphic has 4-8" from Ames to Fort Dodge.  The Euro has 1-2". 

[jaster220]

Both SMI offices with good AFD's this pm. Solid to high-end WWA most likely scenario. After last week's intensity, this won't seem as good as it actually looks to be via better temps, and overnight timing. 

[hawkstwelve]

Euro trending south for the weekend system.

Might still have a shot at something (still relatively minor) with that one. 

[Stacsh]

5 hours ago, tStacsh said:

March snow.  meh.   Temps should run in the upper 20's here though, so should be a decent snow event.  

 

 

 

 

And just like that the heaviest snow shifted south. 1-3”.  Yawn.  

[GDR]

[Tom]

@gimmesnow@MKEstormlook like they will score nicely with the added Lehs bonus...

Quote

Although temperatures will initially be mild, temp profiles will
quickly cool down late today and support all snow with SLR ratios
increasing to 10-12 to 1 during the heaviest burst of snow. Our
snowfall forecast is 6-9 inches, locally more, for the lake
counties including Washington and Waukesha where lake enhancement
will reach. A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for 6 PM today
until 10 AM Fri for this area. Elsewhere across srn WI, 4-7
inches is fcst and is a borderline warning situation, but roads
may not become snow covered until late afternoon or early evening
with only lgt snow remaining for the Fri AM commute.

 

 

[Hawkeye]

12z HRRR

[hawkstwelve]

Light snow started here around 11 last night and is continuing this morning. Not much more than a strong dusting covering the ground so far. Temp at 28.

NWS FSD still calling for 3-5 here by tonight. Seems like latest model guidance is settling between 3-4 inches. Just enough for a nice coating on everything but not too disruptive. I'll take it.

[Hawkeye]

NAM, 3kNAM, FV3

I doubt the NWS would issue winter storm warnings in Iowa if they got a do-over.

[MIKEKC]

HEAVY SNOW in Des Moines, Iowa, just pulled up the live traffic cams, beautiful winter scene. 

You guessed it, rain here in KC. The winter of rain continues. 

[Niko]

This snowstorm coming for S MI is looking pretty decent. Accumulations will be enough to shovel once again. At this rate, I would not be surprised to get to near average snowfall, if we get another  one down the road, but should be a close call. Where was this active wintry stuff back in January or February. Anyways, this will be a fast mover, but will make for hazardous driving conditions. 

[hawkstwelve]

00z and 06z Euro are going to be off on their totals for FSD. Both runs showed almost 2 inches by 9AM when in reality we are barely at a half inch. GFS showed about an inch and half. Might indicate an underperformance, which it seems the NWS is thinking as well as they just lowered totals to 1-4 inches. Looks like a heavier batch of precip might be moving through shortly. Hopefully we can at least get over 2 inches by the time all is said and done tonight.

What a flop this has become from what it appeared to be just a few days ago. Went from multiple models and ensembles showing 12-20 inches to now just hoping for 2. Kinda lame but tough to complain given how the season has played out so far up here. 

[Bryan1117]

Picked up about an inch of slushy snow this morning in Southwest Omaha. It was just enough to provide a nice wintry scene around here without causing any major issues on the roads… and it will be mostly melted and gone by the end of the day today.

[bud2380]

Snow has really picked up now in Cedar Rapids.  Visibility has dropped significantly.  Nothing sticking yet, but it's starting to get wet.  

[Iowawx]

Just now seeing a few flakes in Northeast Cedar Rapids. Latest HRRR is actually showing 5-7" for CR/IC 

 

 

 

[Hawkeye]

12z GFS

Just about all models have shifted the best snow out of the northern Iowa warning area and into southeast Iowa.

[bud2380]

Snow is sticking to the grass now.  Coming down at least moderately now.  

[Iceresistance]

1.7 inches of rain so far, this is from the ENTIRE system.

 

The funny part is that it's the bullseye in Pott. County, OK

[gimmesnow]

2 hours ago, Tom said:

@gimmesnow@MKEstormlook like they will score nicely with the added Lehs bonus...

 

 

This has a lot of potential. If they are counting for 4-7 on warm ground where most of it will melt, the ski hills will see a lot of snow because it'll be falling on existing snow and the trees will trap it. Looks like Ski Patrol shift tomorrow will be quite fun, dead in the morning and fresh snow for me. Nice for winter to go out with a bang here instead of a soft wimper.

[Madtown]

Models are atrocious these days. 

[bud2380]

Everything is white now, coming down good.  

[Hawkeye]

The temp quickly fell from 37 to 33.

[james1976]

Light snow and 35° up here in the TC. Forecast is 3-6"

[Sparky]

I posted this in the wrong thread so I moved it here though this was awhile ago and now I'm up to around 1" of snow. Not sure how much more will accumulate since it's 33° and rates have slowed down a bit.

 

Earlier.......Have heavy snow here currently and it starting to accumulate on the grass even though soil temperatures are in the upper 30⁰s. It started off as a trace of rain/sleet mix, then after a bit it came in like waves of light to heavy snow showers which I could see coming across the fields. It's consistent now though. 

[bud2380]

The back end of the system is already pushing through Des Moines.  Unless more develops behind it (which some models are showing) this will end much quicker than anticipated as well.  At least the heavier rates will.  

[Sparky]

I was outside a bit ago and I'm about up to almost 2" on my snow boards and elsewhere. There's not much on the road or sidewalks because of it being warmer. 

[CentralNebWeather]

Snowing very hard.  Won't last long.  Models have been atrocious around here for this storm as far as moisture goes.  Was expecting much more.  Oh well.

 

[Hawkeye]

I'm at 1.8 inches (fell in about 90 minutes).  The rate has dropped quite a bit after the initial heavy burst.  The latest HRRR shows solid snow filling in early this afternoon for a couple hours, but then becomes pretty light after that.

[MNTonka]

1 hour ago, james1976 said:

Light snow and 35° up here in the TC. Forecast is 3-6"

Some dry air moving in. Going to be tough to even reach 3” with the way the radar is looking. NWS may have jumped the gun with a WWA.  We’ll see what happens this evening once the sun goes down. 

[hawkstwelve]

FSD has recorded 1.2" so far but that must be a fairly generous measurement. I'm only about 15 mins SSW of there and the sloppy 3/4 inch I had accumulated has now mostly melted as the temp has risen to 33 degrees.

They're calling for another 1-2 inches by 6PM but I'm not holding my breath. It's become increasingly apparent that about the only thing this "storm" will be good for is having very light daytime snow falling all day, which is nice in it's own right. Otherwise, big time flop. 

[Iowawx]

I'd say about 2" so far in CR. A report of 4" in Iowa City. 

[Sparky]

Just measured again and surprised it's adding up as much as it did. I'm up to 4" and some spots it's nearing 5" on the grass and frozen part of the driveway. It's so heavy and wet there's barely any drifting despite a decent wind. Chunks are dropping off the trees because of melting. 

[Sparky]

I'm thinking it will probably quit accumulating with the lull or lighter snow that's moving in unless redevelopment quickly increases. 

[james1976]

2 hours ago, MNTonka said:

Some dry air moving in. Going to be tough to even reach 3” with the way the radar is looking. NWS may have jumped the gun with a WWA.  We’ll see what happens this evening once the sun goes down. 

I see they lowered it to 2-4" now. It's been a nuisance snow. Still 35°. I think tonight we score a bit of accumulation.

[hawkstwelve]

Sounds like the weekend system has better potential to put down a couple inches than the dud today.

[Hawkeye]

My total is 3.2 inches.  The rest of the snow should be generally light.

The liquid total is 0.38".

[jaster220]

The mid-level Low gets it's act together a little better over this way for SEMI.

@Niko getting a bump into yellow

 

GRR also thinking some areas may exceed the 6" threshold:

 

[MKEstorm]

Snow has started to fall  

[Iceresistance]

The final total is 1.8 inches for me.

 

Storms over @Andie as of 4:40 PM CST.

[Andie]

Radar is pretty broken up in terms of rain. Developed better to the east and south. 
Maybe it will form still.
I’d like some rain. 

[Tom]

Nice and sunny out here…it was overcast earlier, but one thing you can guarantee out here, the Sun will always make a quick appearance…

[Hawkeye]

I'm sitting at 3.5", currently in a lull.  I'm hoping the final band, over central Iowa, can get my total to 4".

[gimmesnow]

7 minutes ago, Hawkeye said:

I'm sitting at 3.5", currently in a lull.  I'm hoping the final band, over central Iowa, can get my total to 4".

That's pretty impressive considering how the models have overhyped everything this season and how these March snowstorms almost always end up massively disappointing. I'm just hoping most of this falls after the ski hill closes so I can wake up and make some fresh tracks. It's sticking pretty well up here in grass and stuff, took a while to start on the streets.

[Grizzcoat]

Looks like another slopfest Sat-- 18Z Euro trending more robust-- 24hr totals

[OttumwaSnomow]

Eeked out 1.4" snow today. Much of the precip fell as snow. A couple hours of sleet/rain mix snow most of day had snow at varying rates. 

Currently sitting at 24.5" for the season. Not too bad for this far south. Dsm now at 22.8" for the season. 

[Grizzcoat]

^^ DSM up to 25.0" for the season after 2.2" today.

 

add .4" to the below-

CLIMATE REPORT 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DES MOINES IA
534 PM CST THU MAR 09 2023

...................................

...THE DES MOINES IA CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR MARCH 9 2023...
VALID TODAY AS OF 0520 PM LOCAL TIME.

CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1878 TO 2023


WEATHER ITEM   OBSERVED TIME   RECORD YEAR NORMAL DEPARTURE LAST      
                VALUE   (LST)  VALUE       VALUE  FROM      YEAR     
                                                  NORMAL           
...................................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)                                                          
 TODAY                                                               
  MAXIMUM         39    224 AM  72    1986  46     -7       32       
                                      1990                           
                                      2021                           
  MINIMUM         33    459 PM  -4    1912  27      6       21       
  AVERAGE         36                        36      0       27     

PRECIPITATION (IN)                                                    
  TODAY            0.37          1.01 1909   0.06   0.31      T       
  MONTH TO DATE    0.46                      0.54  -0.08     1.70     
  SINCE MAR 1      0.46                      0.54  -0.08     1.70     
  SINCE JAN 1      4.11                      2.96   1.15     3.36     

SNOWFALL (IN)                                                              
  TODAY            1.8           8.6  1909   0.2    1.6       T       
  MONTH TO DATE    1.9                       1.9   -0.0      5.1      
  SINCE MAR 1      1.9                       1.9   -0.0      5.1      
  SINCE JUL 1     24.6                      32.6   -8.0     30.9      
  SNOW DEPTH       0                                                 

[Andie]

3 hours ago, Iceresistance said:

The final total is 1.8 inches for me.

 

Storms over @Andie as of 4:40 PM CST.

Everything is SE and moving away now.  
Missed my chance.