February 21, 2013

National Weather Service Issues Hazardous Weather Warning

Strong northwest winds gusting up to 40 mph on Tuesday kicked off a winter storm outlook posted by the National Weather Service's Quad Cities office on February 19th.

A hazardous weather outlook was issued for northeast Missouri, southeast and east central Iowa and most of Illinois.

The brisk northwest winds combined with dropping temperatures were expected to produce wind chill impacted temperatures of as much as 20 below zero.

The NWS is forecasting significant snow activity in conjunction with the storm front. A strong storm system will bring snow to the outlook area Thursday, with several inches of snow accumulation possible by Thursday evening.

The latest forecast is calling for the bulk of the snow accumulation to occur Thursday afternoon. In addition, some freezing drizzle or light freezing rain will be possible late Thursday night and into early Friday morning after the accumulating snow winds down. The freezing drizzle will likely be more prevalent along and south portions of the forecast area.

NWS officials indicated that since this storm system is just now pushing across the Pacific northwest coast, there still remains some uncertainty on the exact track and strength of this storm as it eventually moves across the Midwest. This storm track will have an impact on snow amounts and areal coverage, but predictions are calling for four to eight inches of snow accumulation and even more closer to the center of the storm passage which is expected to fall in northwest Missouri as it moves northeast towards the Great Lakes.