Historical Weather

On March 14-16, 1959, a major winter storm struck Iowa as a potent low pressure center moved east northeast out of Kansas into central Illinois resulting in 6 deaths and 1 injury. Precipitation began in southern Iowa as rain on the morning of the 14^th then started to switch to a heavy wet snow by afternoon. The heaviest snowfall occurred overnight on the 14^th-15^th, with 4 inches or more falling in a wide swath from southwest to northeast across the state and some areas within that band receiving 8 to 10 inches. The highest reported storm total snowfall accumulations included 12.5 inches at New Hampton, 12.0 inches at Cresco, and 10.0 inches at Clarion, Fayette, and Fort Dodge. Winds gusting to as high as 60 mph caused severe blowing and drifting of the snow, commonly producing drifts up to 10 feet deep. There were even reports in northeastern Iowa with drifts as deep as 15 feet! Across about the southern half of the state, the heavy snow remained very wet and froze to all surfaces. As a result, thousands of trees, utility poles and lines were snapped or heavily damaged. Even after the heavy snow ended on the 15^th, frozen surfaces and high winds continued to make travel impossible across most of the state. In fact, Des Moines and Dubuque authorities prohibited any travel to or from their cities. Also in Des Moines, there were 5,000 basketball fans attending the girls state tournament that spent the night in the Veterans Memorial Stadium building.

1991: A major winter storm pounded the upper Midwest from October 30^th into November 2^nd with some of the most severe effects occurring on Halloween. Snow moved into southern Iowa on the afternoon of the 30^th and changed to mixed precipitation and ice on the morning of the 31^st and continuing into late afternoon on November 1^st. Total ice accumulations ranged from 1 to 2 inches from southwest into north central Iowa and 2 to 3 inches across southern and southeast Minnesota. In northwest Iowa, the precipitation fell as all snow. Total snow accumulations of 8 inches or more blanketed the area with 15.0 inches falling at Estherville. Stong winds produced blizzard conditions into November 2^nd. The damage and hazardous travel conditions were so severe and extensive that 52 of the 99 counties in Iowa were declared disaster areas. Highways and interstates were closed across most of the state and Halloween festivities were cancelled at many locations. As the storm system moved further northeast it dumped 36.9 inches of snow at Duluth which, at the time, was the largest storm total snowfall accumulation on record in Minnesota until it was surpassed in 1994. 

Extreme cold followed the crippling Halloween Storm from November 4-8, 1991.  With the fresh snow pack in place, on November 4^th nearly every reporting station in the state fell into the single digits and remarkably some western stations reported their earliest subzero temperatures on record, including Sioux City where the low was -3°F. Des Moines and Waterloo both established daily records with a low of 4°F. The lowest temperatures reported on the morning of the 4^th included -7°F at Sioux Rapids, -9°F at Hawarden, -10°F at Sheldon, and -11°F at Cherokee. Amazingly, even colder weather would settle across Iowa a few days later with nearly the entire state falling below zero on the mornings of November 7^th and 8^th.  On the 7^th many stations set daily record lows and at numerous locations this is the earliest date on record on which the temperature has fallen below zero, including at Des Moines where the low was -3°F. The lowest reported temperatures in Iowa that morning included -12°F at Audubon, -13°F at Perry, -14°F at Le Mars, -15°F at Sheldon, -16°F at Guthrie Center, -17°F at Cherokee, and -19°F at Hawarden.  On the morning of the 8^th reported low temperatures included -2°F at Burlington, -8°F at Bedford and Grinnell, -11°F at Sac City, -12°F at Atlantic and Le Mars, -13°F at Cherokee and Perry, and -14°F at Guthrie Center.

 

Other Stories or Resources on the 1991 Halloween Winter Storm/Blizzard 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_Halloween_blizzard

http://www.startribune.com/25-photos-that-perfectly-capture-the-halloween-blizzard-of-1991/338843092/#1

http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/halloween_blizzard.htm

http://www.weather.gov/dlh/1991halloweenblizzard (NWS WFO Duluth)

http://www.weather.gov/arx/halloween1991 (NWS WFO La Crosse)

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/month-climate-history-halloween-blizzard-1991

Iowa certainly has had its extreme weather. May is no exception and today (May 6) has proven that Iowa can experience many different types of weather no matter the season. From snow to tornadoes to extreme heat or bitter cold and not to forget flooding. Below are 6 years of the most extreme weather across Iowa that has occurred on May 6.

• 1885: A late spring cold spell produced frost and flurries across Iowa from May 6-9, 1885.  On the morning of the 6th it was reported that ice half an inch thick formed on standing water in Muscatine County. Flurries were reported at Sibley, St. Ansgar, and Waukon that morning and at other stations across northern Iowa on the following two days. The cold spell resulted in widespread damage to garden plants, orchards, and other vegetation across the state.
• 1890: Unseasonably cold weather resulted in light snow mixed with rain and sleet in some areas. At Des Moines the Weather Bureau observer reported a trace of snow, while at Amana the observer wrote that ‘snow fell on the 6th, covering ground to a depth of one inch, but all melted by noon.’
• 1934: One of the hottest summers on record in Iowa began in earnest as the temperature reached 100 F at Sioux City where this remains the earliest date of triple digit heat on record. This was only the first of a remarkable 11 days that month on which a 100 F or higher temperature was recorded somewhere in Iowa. Other reported high temperatures included 100 F at Alton, 99 F at Le Mars, Storm Lake, and Waterloo, 98 F at Algona and Grinnell, and 97 F at Atlantic, Fayette, and Washington. At Des Moines the month would finish as the warmest May on record with an average temperature of 71.1 F. A couple figures in the slideshow below shows the maximum temperatures and their departure from normal.
• 1971: Severe weather struck southwestern Iowa for the second consecutive day. After an F3 tornado on the 5th injured 12 people in Taylor County as it passed through the town of Conway, a severe hail storm on the 6th dropped stones 2 inches in diameter in Mills County for such duration that they drifted 2 to 3 feet deep in the ditches and gullies around Glenwood.
• 1983: A tornado touched down briefly in Pleasant Hill on the eastern edge of Des Moines, producing F2 damage as it destroyed 11 homes and damaged about two dozen more on a path only 8 to 10 blocks long and 50 to 75 yards wide. Several other tornadoes touched down across central and southwestern Iowa that evening but produced only minor damage with no injuries.
• 1989: Unseasonably cold air settled across Iowa for the first week or two of May. The coldest temperatures were reached on the 6th when flurries were reported at most locations in the state and Hampton measured a tenth of an inch of snow. Temperatures bottomed out in the 20s at most stations north of I-80 and in the low to mid 30s to the south with the lowest readings including 26 F at Allison, Fayette, and Oelwein, 25 F at nine stations including Decorah, Forest City, and Hampton, 24 F at Charles City and Colo, and 23 F at Cresco. The low temperatures across Iowa were 12 to 18 degrees below normal! See the slideshow below for a map of where the coldest temperatures were located on May 6, 1989.

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For more On this Date in Iowa Weather history, please visit our website at: http://www.weather.gov/dmx/wxHistory