Snow, slushy mixed precipitation, likely for many through Thursday morning

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - A winter storm is bringing tricky travel conditions to parts of eastern Iowa as it moves through the central United States.

Several advisories and warnings are in effect for snow and mixed precipitation. You can find the latest on those here.

Precipitation, in the form of rain, snow, sleet, or a mix of all of those, will continue through the evening and nighttime hours of Wednesday night. Activity may become more scattered in nature by late evening and the early morning hours of Thursday, except in the northern tier or two of counties in the KCRG-TV9 viewing area where at least light snow should persist most of the night. A second push of snow or a rain/snow mix is likely during the post-dawn morning hours of Thursday, with any remaining snowfall becoming very light and isolated after that.

Expect roadways to become slick through the evening and night, likely impacting the morning commute as well. Areas north of U.S. Highway 30 will be the most likely to see persistently slick roads as the night goes on, with roadways in southeast Iowa south of Interstate 80 potentially staying snow- and ice-free for a good portion of the night. Even if you have only seen a small amount of accumulation, you could still end up losing traction easily on slushy and wet roadways. Take your time to get to your destination, and give plenty of distance between you and the car in front of you.

The heaviest snow is expected to fall across the northwest, roughly in a line from Waterloo to Guttenberg, where 4-8″ is possible. Areas to the south of that heavier band will see lesser totals, with a sharp cutoff in accumulations to little to none likely on the southern end of where the snow falls. This is due to the mixed and wet nature of the precipitation.

We’ll catch a several-day-long break from precipitation after this system exits on Thursday, with plenty of cloud cover and temperatures near or just above normal for this time of year.

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