BRRRRRR...It's Cold in the QC!

On Saturday morning  the combination of clear skies, light winds, and snow on the ground caused temperatures to dip into the single digits (above)!   Galena even dipped BELOW ZERO!!!   Temperatures for overnight lows for Saturday into Sunday morning won't be as bad, but still very cold (below).

Blizzard 2012 Snow Totals...

After breaking the record for the most days without snow in the Quad Cities, Mother Nature let us know that winter still exists in the QC on Thursday!

Here are the snow totals for neighborhoods around the Quad Cities in Iowa and Illinois.

BLIZZARD CONDITIONS EXPECTED for the QC...

A powerful winter storm will roll through today bringing 3-6" of snow to the Quad Cities and winds of 30-40 mph with gusts of 55 mph.  

The BLIZZARD WARNING for the Quad Cities runs from 9 am until 12 am today.  The rain will change over to all snow by late morning with the heaviest snow falling during the early afternoon hours. With strong winds and heavy snow, travel will become dangerous so avoid heading out today. Higher amounts of snow will be found north of the QCA.

Temperatures will be dropping below freezing and wind chills will dip below zero late Thursday night making for a very cold Friday.  All the snow will exit by Friday, but winds will remain strong still causing snow to blow onto roads so give yourself extra time even on Friday if you are traveling for the holiday we will keep you posted throughout the day on-line and on-air.

Winter Storm Warning for QCA....

A major winter storm is heading into the QCA Wednesday night into Thursday.  Right now, the Quad City metro area is under a Winter Storm Warning until 6 pm Thursday night 9 (shaded in red).    While a Blizzard Warning has been issued for Johnson, Washington, Cedar, Jackson, and Jo Daviess Counties (shaded in orange).

Neighborhoods in the Winter Storm Warning including the Quad Cities could pick up 4-8" of snow while areas under the Blizzard Warning will get 10 or more inches.  White out conditions are also possible as winds will be sustained from 25-35 mph with gusts of 45 mph or more at times.  This will cause snow to blow onto roads making it difficult to see and drive on area roads so be very careful.  Of course we will keep you posted on-air and on-line!

Winter Storm Watch for the Quad Cities...

Much of the QCA remains under a Winter Storm Watch from Wednesday night into Thursday.  Wednesday evening is when the rain/snow mix will begin.  After midnight on Wednesday the rain/snow mix will change over to all snow. 

Between late Wednesday night into Thursday morning, we could pick up 6+ inches of snow.  Winds will be rather strong on Thursday with gusts over 40 mph causing white out conditions!  We'll keep you posted both on-air and on-line!

U.S. Snow Depth Now versus a Year Ago...

So far in the Quad Cities we haven't had a measurable snowfall this winter.   But, when you compare how much snow is on the ground now around the U.S. versus the amount of snow that was on the ground a year ago, there is a difference! 

 The map above shows the snow depth around the country a year ago and the image below is the snow depth now.  When you compare the two, you can see there is clearly more snow on the ground this year than there was at this time last year!  Especially in the Western U.S. 

We could see our first major snowfall here in the QCA this Wednesday night into Thursday.  We'll keep you posted!

This Weekend's Rainfall Totals

Some much needed rain fell in the Quad Cities from late Friday night into Saturday.  Most neighborhoods around the QC picked up close to a half inch or even more.  Muscatine picked up the most rain with 0.81".  We could still see some light rain/drizzle fall tonight and on Sunday.  But, most of the rain has moved out of the area.

Friday's High Temps....

Another day with temperatures climbing 10-15 degrees above average!  We made it to 51° in the Quad Cities on Friday.

A Soggy Saturday Ahead in the QC?

A strong low pressure system is going to put an end to all the sunshine and warm weather we've had this week in the Quad Cities!  On Saturday, the system will give us the chance for some heavy rain.  Weather models are showing that we could pick up a half inch or even a little more this weekend!  We'll keep you posted!

December off to warm start!

The first 11 days of December, high temperatures were in the lower 60s and upper 50s.  They then slowly dropped into the 40s and the coldest day of the month was just this week.  That's when we only climbed to a high of 27°.  So far the average high for the first 11 days of December is 48°.  That's almost 10° above average!  The Quad Cities average high for the month of December is around 39°.  More warm weather is on tap for the rest week as highs climb into the upper 40s and even the lower 50s!