hawkeye_wx

The Euro is trending much wetter across eastern Iowa. The 06z run had a big dry pocket over my area. The 12z run got rid of that pocket. Now the 18z has us in a wet area.

The GFS appears way overdone for southern Iowa.

EPS

I finished with 2.7" last night. 3-4" fell just northeast of me. Models had it nailed pretty good.

I just got 1 inch of snow in 15 minutes. It is probably the heaviest snow I've ever seen.

It is ripping hard here, the heaviest snow of the season. The comma head of this potent little disturbance is about to go over me with very intense snow.

The last two weeks have been extremely cloudy. I remember only a few brief peaks of sun over that period.

Tonight's sneaky little wave has been improving for my area. The 12z HRRR now has a strip of 3-4" from Cedar Rapids to Dubuque.

My final measurement is 11.0", so I've still never measured a foot. Without the blowing and drifting later in the storm, I probably would have. All the spotters in and around Cedar Rapids who are reporting 12-15" must have more favorable locations to measure. Even with a 2-stage blower, cleaning this stuff was a long workout. It's the most wet snow I've ever received. Models really blew it when they shifted the heaviest snow band southeast yesterday.

I'm up to 10.5". Everything is plastered with snow, including the sides of the house. Models show we have another 2.5 hours to go, but it's beginning to taper off. It's pretty awesome to have a solid defo zone parked over us all day. That is rare.

This is the part of big storms I hate. Now that we are into the blowing and drifting, all the spotters in my area surge well ahead of my total. Reports of 11-12.5" are now coming in across Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, but somehow I've only managed to accumulate 1" on my board over the last 2.5 hours, despite the fact it has been ripping the entire time. Snow gets blown off my board, so my accumulation rate slows to a crawl. I am officially only at 9.7". Reality is probably closer to 11". This is why I always fall short of 12" in big storms.

As we approach 10 inches, the general condition is much worse than this morning. This morning the flakes were big and they were not blowing much. Now the flakes are small and a bit drier and the wind is howling. Snow is whipping off roofs and visibility is low.

12z EPS... stronger and nw of 00z.

My photo doesn't show how hard it is snowing. I received 1.3" in the last hour, now up to 8.6". The snow has dried a bit and the wind is really gusting, so it is much nastier than just an hour ago.

I'm at 7.3 inches. Heavy bands are expanding over me, so we have a real shot at 10 inches. It's a beautiful snow, too. Wet, but fluffy.

Up to about 6 inches here. The snow is wet, but not slop. It's perfect for piling up without blowing around.

My total this morning is 4.8". The ratio is 8.7 to 1.

I'm at 3.1". The next several hours should be mostly lighter snow, so I'm hitting the sack. The heavier deformation snow arrives early in the morning.

Models are pretty close at this point. This is looking bigger to the east of Iowa, but models have some solid snow hanging back into my area. Combined with the wind and cold, on top of the current storm's snow, it should be fun.

GFS has sagged the heavy band down into the city.

I already have 2.1 inches on my snow boards after only 2.5 hours of snow.

Interestingly, the 00z NAMs expanded the heavier totals back to Cedar Rapids. That seems to be an outlier, though. I'm still going in expecting 6-8", with anything more a nice bonus. We must be near 1" already. It has been snowing pretty good for 90 minutes and there is no grass showing.

We reached 34º or 35º this afternoon, but once the snow began this evening it stuck to the pavement immediately. There is not a single wet spot anywhere. Perhaps the strengthening wind helped cool the pavement. Guidance continues to sag southeast. Fortunately, even though we won't get the heaviest snow, models still show my area solidly within the decent defo zone through the day tomorrow.

The HRRR continues to sag southeast.