***Official 2024 Weather Thread***
- Thread starter wxman1
- Start date
More information needed. Mostly, your life insurance coverage and pictures of your wife. Need to make sure she’ll be fine once you’re gone before answering who’s in the right here.
Hi All,
I would just like to let you all know what the weather will be for the next 57 days or so, just so you can prepare in advance. It's always good to be prepared.
1) Starting Friday, Jan 19th into January 20th we will have 4-5" of very wet snow followed by rising temperatures into the early morning for a slight melt before the temperatures plummet at 8:00 am and cause the roadways to become a complete sheet of ice, until later that day into the evening when it warms up, clears off and becomes rather pleasant for 72 hours.
2) On Wednesday January 24th we will have very high winds causing whiteouts in a 50 mile radius of Huxley, IA beginning around 3 pm and ending just after midnight.
3) Saturday January 27th, The entire state of Iowa will be under a snow and snow lightning warning causing travel to be dangerous due to high chances of electrocution.
4) Monday January 31st we will experience a beautiful day with highs in the upper 30s and clear skies and it will continue through the remainder of the week.
5) By February 6th we will be well on our way to more normal temps and sporadic snowfall, but no great blizzards or squalls to be found on the map.
6) On February 9th the Central part of the state will experience a freak warming event, followed by 8 hours of light rain for a total accumulation of 2-3 inches all while temps then plummet overnight and hold in the lower single digits for 3 days.
7) February 13th into the 14th at midday the state of Iowa will have a reprieve from the recent winter weather and experience a pleasant day with partly cloudy skies and temps hovering around or just over the freezing mark. Between 12 and 3 PM very isolated snow squalls bringing 8-16 inches will be a high possibility for Polk, Dallas, Boone, Hamilton, Hardin, Marshall and Jasper counties.
8) Between February 16th and February 22nd Iowa will experience a warming trend with highs in the upper 30s in the NW to upper 40s in the SE, clear skies and the melting of most all of the accumulated snowpack from the preceding winter weather.
9) On February 22nd a sudden and intense storm system will blanket the Northern 1/2 of the state, dropping unusual amounts of rain for February, causing already saturated ground and burgeoning streams and rivers to overflow by the 23rd and block the majority of the roadways in central Iowa, making Story county essentially an inland island for approximately 96 hours.
10) A week of moderate temperatures and clear skies will give way to lower temps between 22 and 33 degrees being caused by the perfect combination of a unusual Artic air mass and low, moisture-laden Southern winds from a freak, out of season, Category 2 hurricane that stalls off the coast of Louisiana causing on and off light drizzle to rain from March 1st to March 6th. Iowa Highway Patrol advises only emergency travel during this period due to a new weather category product, "flash freeze events".
11) I have no idea what will happen at any other time, but you can assume if it is not mentioned above, then it will be JUST nice enough that you have to go to work and the kids have to go to school.
For reference, these predictions have been made with the use of the Cyclone Weather system prediction models found here:
cyclones.com
cyclones.com
I would just like to let you all know what the weather will be for the next 57 days or so, just so you can prepare in advance. It's always good to be prepared.
1) Starting Friday, Jan 19th into January 20th we will have 4-5" of very wet snow followed by rising temperatures into the early morning for a slight melt before the temperatures plummet at 8:00 am and cause the roadways to become a complete sheet of ice, until later that day into the evening when it warms up, clears off and becomes rather pleasant for 72 hours.
2) On Wednesday January 24th we will have very high winds causing whiteouts in a 50 mile radius of Huxley, IA beginning around 3 pm and ending just after midnight.
3) Saturday January 27th, The entire state of Iowa will be under a snow and snow lightning warning causing travel to be dangerous due to high chances of electrocution.
4) Monday January 31st we will experience a beautiful day with highs in the upper 30s and clear skies and it will continue through the remainder of the week.
5) By February 6th we will be well on our way to more normal temps and sporadic snowfall, but no great blizzards or squalls to be found on the map.
6) On February 9th the Central part of the state will experience a freak warming event, followed by 8 hours of light rain for a total accumulation of 2-3 inches all while temps then plummet overnight and hold in the lower single digits for 3 days.
7) February 13th into the 14th at midday the state of Iowa will have a reprieve from the recent winter weather and experience a pleasant day with partly cloudy skies and temps hovering around or just over the freezing mark. Between 12 and 3 PM very isolated snow squalls bringing 8-16 inches will be a high possibility for Polk, Dallas, Boone, Hamilton, Hardin, Marshall and Jasper counties.
8) Between February 16th and February 22nd Iowa will experience a warming trend with highs in the upper 30s in the NW to upper 40s in the SE, clear skies and the melting of most all of the accumulated snowpack from the preceding winter weather.
9) On February 22nd a sudden and intense storm system will blanket the Northern 1/2 of the state, dropping unusual amounts of rain for February, causing already saturated ground and burgeoning streams and rivers to overflow by the 23rd and block the majority of the roadways in central Iowa, making Story county essentially an inland island for approximately 96 hours.
10) A week of moderate temperatures and clear skies will give way to lower temps between 22 and 33 degrees being caused by the perfect combination of a unusual Artic air mass and low, moisture-laden Southern winds from a freak, out of season, Category 2 hurricane that stalls off the coast of Louisiana causing on and off light drizzle to rain from March 1st to March 6th. Iowa Highway Patrol advises only emergency travel during this period due to a new weather category product, "flash freeze events".
11) I have no idea what will happen at any other time, but you can assume if it is not mentioned above, then it will be JUST nice enough that you have to go to work and the kids have to go to school.
For reference, these predictions have been made with the use of the Cyclone Weather system prediction models found here:
2025-26 Men's Basketball Schedule - Iowa State Athletics
The official 2025-26 Men's Basketball schedule for the Iowa State Cyclones
2025-26 Women's Basketball Schedule - Iowa State Athletics
The official 2025-26 Women's Basketball schedule for the Iowa State Cyclones
I've thought about this often. Wonder what the price would be on that for an average size driveway?
I had a contractor friend that did this with his garage for heat, logical. But, he tripled the capacity he had for his boiler to heat the drive (only about 40' long). He loved it, but it costs a bit to do in a bad winter.
I'm sure it's not cheap and like what CYDJ said in his post also expensive to run it during the winter. But frankly if someone was actually going to do it have a feeling the cost wouldn't be an issue for them.
Enough to pay someone to clear the drive for you for quite some time.
Soo…what does the light yellow between Des Moines and, say, Grinnell indicate? I’m seeing expected totals of 2-6 (Sheldon) to 5–10 (many places) and all intervals in between in that yellow color.
I’d assume the space between DSM and Grinnell and Ottumwa is 5-10”?
Highway 30 will be travel not advised by Friday evening. That might help you decide.
Just point the snowblower chute up in the air and let the wind solve that problem for you. YMMV based on how far neighbors' driveways are from yours, and how much you like your neighbors.
That would be an amazing feature. Even the richest SOBs I know don’t have that so that’s telling me something.
Wow, you certainly are "active" this New Year.... Good to be you!