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Storm Events Database
Event Details
| Event | Blizzard |
| State | IOWA |
| County/Area | PALO ALTO |
| WFO | DMX |
| Begin Date | 12/08/2009 21:00:00 CST-6 |
| End Date | 12/09/2009 13:00:00 CST-6 |
| Deaths Direct/Indirect | 0/0 (fatality details below, when available...) |
| Injuries Direct/Indirect | 0/0 |
| Property Damage | 50.00K |
| Crop Damage | 0.00K |
| Episode Narrative | An intense low pressure system moved into southern California during the afternoon and evening of the 7th, then tracked northeast across the central U.S. the surface low reached Kansas during the morning of the 8th, eastern Kansas by evening, and tracked to northern Illinois before sunrise on the 8th. The storm intensified rapidly, reaching 975 mb by the afternoon of the 9th as it crossed Lower Michigan. Snow broke out across Iowa during the overnight hours of the 7th into the early morning hours of the 8th. The snow continued through the day on the 8th. Northeast winds of 15 to 25 MPH caused drifting snow through the day and into the evening. Snowfall reached a inch per hour at times during several heavier waves of snowfall during the afternoon and evening of the 8th. A broad band of 8 to 16 inch snowfall totals were reported across much of the northwest two thirds of the state. Some of the heavier snowfall totals included 16 inches in Cass County at Atlantic, 15.7 inches at the Des Moines Airport, and 15.3 inches in Windsor Heights, both in Polk County. The entire CWA received at least 4-6 inches from the storm over a 36 hour period. Road conditions had become hazardous from the heavy snow on the day before. As the low moved to the east of Iowa and intensified, strong northwest winds developed across the state. Winds of 30 to 40 MPH were common with gusts of 45 to 60 MPH fairly common for several hours. A wind gust of 61 MPH was recorded at the ASOS at Estherville, while 58 MPH winds occurred at a mesonet site in Carroll. There were scattered power outages around the state, however at the peak about 8000 customers lost power. This was considerably less than the 350,000 that occurred during the blizzard in the spring of 2007. Visibility was reduced to near zero for a several hour period as there was plenty of loose snow to blow around. The winds produced 4 to 6 foot drifts in many areas, with reports in some of the rural areas of drifts of 10 to 15 feet. Roads drifted shut fairly rapidly. By the early morning hours, snow plows had to be removed from roads statewide as there was no way to keep up with the blowing and drifting snow. Interstate 35 was closed north of Ames along a 15 mile stretch, and Interstate 80 was closed along a 55 mile stretch east of Des Moines. Reports at sunrise on the 9th indicated that all rural roads in the state were closed and many of the arterial roads were closed as well. Periodically, the Interstate system was closed due to the blizzard conditions. Nearly all business in the state and all of the schools were closed on the 9th. Many schools remained closed on the 10th as well, with the list of schools closed exceeded 235 yet on the 10th. Conditions improved through the day on the 10th, however with all the extensive drifting that took place during the blizzard numerous roads remained snow clogged into the 11th. Five school districts remained closed on the 11th, and another 60 were on delayed start with no bus service beyond the main arterial roads. In the end, the blizzard and preceding snowstorm was described as the worst to hit Iowa in 40 years based on intensity and areal coverage. |
| Event Narrative |
All events for this episode:
| Location | County/Zone | St. | Date | Time | T.Z. | Type | Mag | Dth | Inj | PrD | CrD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals: | 0 | 0 | 2.450M | 0.00K | |||||||
| TAYLOR (ZONE) | TAYLOR (ZONE) | IA | 12/08/2009 | 21:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| ADAMS (ZONE) | ADAMS (ZONE) | IA | 12/08/2009 | 21:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| CRAWFORD (ZONE) | CRAWFORD (ZONE) | IA | 12/08/2009 | 21:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| CARROLL (ZONE) | CARROLL (ZONE) | IA | 12/08/2009 | 21:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| ADAIR (ZONE) | ADAIR (ZONE) | IA | 12/08/2009 | 21:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| AUDUBON (ZONE) | AUDUBON (ZONE) | IA | 12/08/2009 | 21:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| CASS (ZONE) | CASS (ZONE) | IA | 12/08/2009 | 21:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| SAC (ZONE) | SAC (ZONE) | IA | 12/08/2009 | 21:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| CALHOUN (ZONE) | CALHOUN (ZONE) | IA | 12/08/2009 | 21:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| POCAHONTAS (ZONE) | POCAHONTAS (ZONE) | IA | 12/08/2009 | 21:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| PALO ALTO (ZONE) | PALO ALTO (ZONE) | IA | 12/08/2009 | 21:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| EMMET (ZONE) | EMMET (ZONE) | IA | 12/08/2009 | 21:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| HUMBOLDT (ZONE) | HUMBOLDT (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| WEBSTER (ZONE) | WEBSTER (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| MADISON (ZONE) | MADISON (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| LUCAS (ZONE) | LUCAS (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| CLARKE (ZONE) | CLARKE (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| UNION (ZONE) | UNION (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| WAYNE (ZONE) | WAYNE (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| DECATUR (ZONE) | DECATUR (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| RINGGOLD (ZONE) | RINGGOLD (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| KOSSUTH (ZONE) | KOSSUTH (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| HAMILTON (ZONE) | HAMILTON (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| WRIGHT (ZONE) | WRIGHT (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| HANCOCK (ZONE) | HANCOCK (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| WINNEBAGO (ZONE) | WINNEBAGO (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| WARREN (ZONE) | WARREN (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| MARION (ZONE) | MARION (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| GREENE (ZONE) | GREENE (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| GUTHRIE (ZONE) | GUTHRIE (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| BOONE (ZONE) | BOONE (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| JASPER (ZONE) | JASPER (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| POLK (ZONE) | POLK (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| DALLAS (ZONE) | DALLAS (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 01:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| MARSHALL (ZONE) | MARSHALL (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 03:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| WORTH (ZONE) | WORTH (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 03:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| CERRO GORDO (ZONE) | CERRO GORDO (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 03:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| BUTLER (ZONE) | BUTLER (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 03:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| FRANKLIN (ZONE) | FRANKLIN (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 03:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| STORY (ZONE) | STORY (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 03:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| APPANOOSE (ZONE) | APPANOOSE (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 03:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| MONROE (ZONE) | MONROE (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 03:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| HARDIN (ZONE) | HARDIN (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 03:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| GRUNDY (ZONE) | GRUNDY (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 03:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| TAMA (ZONE) | TAMA (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 06:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| MAHASKA (ZONE) | MAHASKA (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 06:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| POWESHIEK (ZONE) | POWESHIEK (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 06:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| BLACK HAWK (ZONE) | BLACK HAWK (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 06:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| BREMER (ZONE) | BREMER (ZONE) | IA | 12/09/2009 | 06:00 | CST-6 | Blizzard | 0 | 0 | 50.00K | 0.00K | |
| Totals: | 0 | 0 | 2.450M | 0.00K |
