Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Central Plains / Midwest Blizzard Getting Underway...


Snow is increasing rapidly from Colorado into western and central Nebraska at mid-morning.  The latest observations indicate heavy snow with 1/8 mile visibility at Pueblo, with winds gusting to 40 mph.  Colorado Springs is reporting snow and blowing snow, with visibility around 2 miles, and Denver International is reporting moderate snow with a visibility around 1/2 mile.  

Colorado Department of Transportation cameras are showing deteriorating conditions along the front range, including I-70 in the Loveland area:


...and I-25 in the Logan area:


Light to moderate snow is also beginning to fall and is increasing in coverage across western and central Nebraska at this hour.

Blizzard Warnings are in effect for areas shaded in orange on the following image for today through parts of Thursday.  Note that they have been expanded to include much of central and eastern Iowa, into southern Wisconsin.  Winter Storm Warnings are shown in pink:


Heavy snow will combine with increasingly strong Northerly winds to produce white out or near white out conditions across a broad area from eastern Colorado, northwestern Kansas and Nebraska into Iowa and Wisconsin.

The latest computer model data suggests that upwards of a foot or more of snow may fall across portions of central and eastern Iowa into southern Wisconsin by 12 Noon CST tomorrow:


Travel is highly discouraged across this region through tomorrow.  If you have a flight out of this region and are determined to make the trip, you definitely should call ahead to check on cancellations and/or delays, which will become dominant later today.

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