News : The first Winter Storm Warning of Spring, 2018

While some area residents have been making plans to get out their lawnmowers, it's going to be snowblowers that get fired up first this weekend in Vinton and throughout much of the northeast half of Iowa. The weekend weather forecast includes a warning from the National Weather Service that our area could see 6 inches, or even more, of snow between Friday night and Saturday evening. This winter weather warning comes just two weeks before the 45th anniversary of the historic blizzard of April 8-10, 1973, when between 14 and 20 inches fell in the Benton County area. Among the results of that storm was a reunion held every few years at the Becker farm and sawmill north of Garrison, where several travelers spent a couple of days while waiting for snow plows to clear the roads.Benton County is among those named in the following National Weather Service Winter Storm Warning: URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Quad Cities IA/IL 330 AM CDT Fri Mar 23 2018 ... Heavy Snow and Strong Winds Possible tonight into Saturday... . A late season snowstorm will impact parts of eastern Iowa and northwestern Illinois tonight into Saturday. The precipitation will start out as rain or a rain/snow mix but quickly change over to moderate, and at times, heavy snow. The transition from rain to snow will take longer for areas south of a line from Cedar Rapids to the Quad Cities. There will be a sharp gradient in snowfall amounts on the southern and northern edges of the swath of accumulating snow. Any shifts to the storm track will greatly affect the snowfall forecast. Widespread 6 to 10 inch snow amounts are expected with isolated snow amounts around 15 inches possible. In addition to what is expected to be a wet heavy snow, easterly winds are forecast to gust between 30 to 35 mph, creating significant visibility restrictions and shallow drifting when combined with the falling snow. Affected counties/cities Buchanan-Delaware-Dubuque-Benton-Linn-Jones-Jackson-Cedar-Clinton-Scott-Jo Daviess-Carroll-Whiteside-Rock Island-Henry IL-Bureau- Putnam. Including the cities of Independence, Manchester, Dubuque, Vinton, Cedar Rapids, Anamosa, Maquoketa, Tipton, Clinton, Davenport, Bettendorf, Galena, Mount Carroll, Sterling, Moline, Rock Island, Geneseo, Princeton, and Hennepin. WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 7 PM CDT SATURDAY: * WHAT...Heavy snow with light ice amounts possible. Total snow accumulations of 6 to 9 inches, with localized amounts up to 12 inches. Minor ice accumulations of a light glaze. East winds could gust to 30 to 35 mph at times. * WHERE...Portions of east central and northeast Iowa and north central and northwest Illinois. * WHEN...From 7 PM this evening to 7 PM CDT Saturday. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Snowfall rates may peak between 1-2 inches per hour leading to significant reductions in visibility and very difficult travel conditions. The heavy wet snow may result in broken tree branches, which could lead to sporadic power outages. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow, sleet and ice will make travel very hazardous or impossible. Additional information can be found at www.weather.gov/quadcities