Storm update: Morning commuters will have to dig out
- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
By Thomas Geyer | Tuesday, February 05, 2008 |
(John Schultz/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo
Quad-City residents heading to work today should expect to dig their motor vehicles out of the snow, or at least plow a path from the garage to the street.
Meteorologists with the National Weather Service, Davenport, said that if the track of the major winter storm being watched Tuesday held to its predicted course, snow was expected to begin falling after midnight but the heaviest snow should fall after about 6 a.m. and continue all day.
“This is a major winter storm and a big-time snow producer,” meteorologist Andy Ervin said.
About 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Ervin said the storm, a big one, was over Kansas working its way slowly to the Quad-Cities.
Initial indications had the storm at least starting to wind down after lunch today, but that has changed.
“The latest indications are that the snow should last almost all day,” Ervin said Tuesday night. “It looks certain that we’ll get most of our snow after 6 a.m., but that’s not to say we’ll not wake up to a bunch of snow already on the ground.”
It likely will be later in the afternoon before the snow begins to slow a bit and taper off, he said.
Snow accumulations of eight to 12 inches are probable along a broad line from Fairfield, Iowa, to the Quad-Cities to Clinton and on into the Sterling-Rock Falls area, he said.
“Some areas could see up to 15 inches, while there is the potential for isolated amounts greater than 15 inches,” Ervin said.
Snow was expected to begin falling in earnest after midnight and continuing throughout the day Wednesday, he said.
Davenport Police Sgt. Mike Colclasure said that anyone who has to travel must go slow.
“You can’t drive 35 or 45 mph as you usually do or you’re going to slide when you come to a stoplight or stop sign,” he said.
People who drive standard transmission cars know they can shift to a lower gear to slow down, he said. But many people in automatic transmission vehicles don’t think to use second or first gear.
“Some people have no idea what second or first gears are for,” he said. “You especially want to use second or first gear when going down a steep hill like Harrison Street hill. That way you don’t have to ride the brake all the way down and take a greater chance sliding and losing control and running into a curb or another car.”
About 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the first of two storms hit. It began with rain, then sleet and then turned to heavy snow that quickly made driving hazardous. Area police were inundated with calls for traffic crashes, most of them minor.
By about 4 p.m., the snow had tapered off and for several hours there was a wintry mix of rain, sleet and snow. By 8 p.m., little to nothing was coming down in downtown Davenport. By about 8:30 p.m. it had started drizzling. From then on it was a game of watching and waiting for the bigger storm to appear after midnight.
The rainy, snowy wet weather is playing havoc with the Rock River in both Moline and Joslin.
National Weather Service meteorologist Mike McClure said there continue to be ice jamming issues.
At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Rock River at Moline was at 12.75 feet, while at Joslin the Rock was at 12.62 feet. Flood stage at both locations is 12 feet.
In Moline, the National Weather Service said that at 12.5 feet, water affects residences in the Friendship Farm area. At 12 feet, water affects residences near the 27th Street bridge. At 11 feet, water affects agricultural land upstream from Moline.
Grocery stores in the Quad-Cities were reportedly doing steady business Tuesday but weren’t extraordinarily busy and people were not grabbing everything off the shelves.
Wal-Mart SuperCenter on Elmore Avenue in Davenport reported nothing out of the ordinary.
At the Hy-Vee store on West Locust Street in Davenport, second assistant Angie Robison said that business “was steady. We’ve had nothing too major.”
MidAmerican Energy spokesman Allan Urlis said he was not expecting any major power outage issues. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, no power outages were being reported locally.
“I don’t think it will be all that bad,” Urlis said. “A storm like this does not present the problems that an ice storm does. A lot of snow generally does not lead to power outages.
“If there is a lot of wind, that could cause problems. But snow doesn’t collect on the power lines and poles like ice does. And ice is very heavy.”
Most area cities have declared a snow emergency, and cars should not be parked along snow routes. Cities are asking that cars be parked in a driveway if at all possible.
Also, plowing will be along major thoroughfares first.
“We won’t go into residential areas yet,” said Rich Westmoreland, operations director for the City of Moline. He said road crews late Tuesday were watching and waiting for whatever developed and were checking their routes for slick spots.
Westmoreland added that Moline is doing well on road salt.
“We’ve got plenty in the dome and some coming from another place and some at the Rock Island River Terminal,” he said. “I’ve heard other cities are short, but for Moline personally, we’re doing OK for ourselves.”
Much will depend on what the weather does through today and for the rest of the month, he added.
“Last February, we used 3,000 tons of salt,” he said. “If that happens again, I think we could cover that, but it could get tight.”
Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.
EARLIER STORY
Update: Winter storm to bring eight to 12 inches of snow
By Thomas Geyer
What is being termed a significant winter storm is expected to dump eight to 12 inches of snow on the Quad-City metropolitan area, or even more depending on the final track of the storm, meteorologist Bill Nichols of the National Weather Service, Davenport, said at a news conference today.
“This is a dynamic system for which we’re forecasting eight to 12 inches of snow, with the potential for localized amounts of 15-18 inches,” Nichols said. The storm is expected to track along a line from Fairfield to DeWitt in Iowa into Sterling in Illinois.
“Don’t be surprised if you hear thunder,” he added, indicating the possibility of thunderstorms.
He said road conditions could deteriorate very quickly.
“With weather conditions this severe, it can be very difficult to keep many roads open, if at all,” Nichols said. People could find themselves in a bad spot on the road and “it may not be possible to get to them,” he added.
Meteorologist Mike McClure said the snow will be coming in two separate waves. The first began about 1:30 p.m. There will be a lull this afternoon, and then the biggest part of the storm will hit about mid-evening and continue through Wednesday.
Snow amounts could change should the storm shift 30 miles either way along the line of Fairfield through the Quad-Cities to Sterling, he added.
The wind that is expected to accompany the bigger storm will create blowing snow that will reduce visibility and could create near blizzard conditions, he said.
This has been one of the most severe winters in a long time, Nichols said, adding that this area will be in this type of weather pattern for at least the next couple of weeks.
“We are dealing with more arctic air than we’ve seen in a long, long time,” he said.
About 15 percent of the weather patterns the Quad-City area has experienced this winter are because of a La Nina in the Pacific Ocean, he added. The rest is caused by other factors.
The point is everything has come together just right to give the Quad-Cities one of its hardest winters in years.
“There are many things we know about the weather and so many things we’re still learning,” he said. “We know certain things, and we don’t know certain things.
“The weather is a powerful, dynamic force, and we’re still learning a lot about it.”
Street crews are out in each of the Quad-Cities laying down salt and plowing what they can.
Area police are reporting numerous accidents and vehicles in ditches.
“Stay off the streets,” Davenport Police Sgt. Mike Colclasure said.
“The roads got bad fast,” he said. “I came in about 1:45 p.m., and then by 2:30 p.m., there were cars slipping everywhere. So unless it’s an emergency don’t go anywhere.
“It’s not looking good.”
Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.
EARLIER STORY
Snowstorm could be a 20-incher
By Doug Schorpp
If predictions hold true, a wintry storm headed this way could produce one of the highest snow totals in Quad-City history.
Or maybe even the worst ever.
“From what we are looking at, these incredible amounts of moisture, I wouldn’t be surprised that, by tomorrow night, to see a 20-incher in some areas,” meteorologist Mike McClure of the National Weather Service said, referring to the amount of snow that could hit some areas of the Quad-City region.
So scary is the forecast that the weather service is conducting a rare news conference at its offices in Davenport this afternoon to help prepare everyone for the possibility, he said.
“We are calling for 8 to 13 inches, and we continue to look at that. There is a potential for locally higher amounts. We are looking at a foot or more. The first wave is expected to be a little bit of rain, then a mixture of sleet and some rain, and, eventually, to snow. It should be snow by late afternoon.”
In the Quad-Cities, he said the rain/sleet mixture should hit between 2 and 4 p.m. today. The severe storm warning will stay in effect all the way until 3 p.m. Wednesday, he said.
Coupled with the high snow totals will be winds ranging from 20 to 30 mph or higher.
“That is what is set to come and impact the area,” he said. “With the snow and winds, traveling will be extremely difficult, if not impossible. It will get going overnight and tomorrow morning, right in time for the rush-hour commute.”
He said “wow” quickly became a common phrase around the weather service office as reports began coming in this morning.
According to McClure, the greatest Quad-City snowfall in a 24-hour period was 16.4 inches on Jan. 3, 1971. Second was 15.1 inches on Jan. 19, 1995. The greatest amount to fall in the same day was 11.7 inches on Jan. 26, 1967.
McClure said the record two-day total for snowfall in the Quad-Cities is 17.1 inches on Jan. 12-13, 1979.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see 15 inches and above that here.” And 17 to 20 inches could occur in several areas, he added.
Areas where the snowfall could be the worst are communities such as Clinton to Maquoketa in Iowa, and from Aledo and Galva in Illinois all the way north to Galena.
Doug Schorpp can be contacted at (563) 383-2292 or dschorpp@qctimes.com.
del.icio.us
Digg
NewsVine
Fark
reddit» More Local Stories
Highest Rated Articles from the last 7 Days
- Technology News Articles
- Computers, MP3, Phones & More. See Product Pics, Specs & Reviews.
- www.NexTag.com
- 2008 Diet Of The Year:
- Finally, A Diet That Really Works! Seen On CNN, NBC, CBS & Fox News.
- www.Wu-YiSource.com
- Cheap Airfare
- Compare multiple travel sites. Discount web fares made easy.
- www.LowFares.com
- Ads by Yahoo!
