A crossbred cow dusted with snow munches on silage at a rural Tama County farm mid-morning on Wednesday, Feb. 12, as the biggest snowfall of the season (thus far) began to bear down on the area. When all was said and done late Wednesday evening, most of Tama County had received roughly four to six inches of snow. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

IOWA – From the biggest snowfall of the season (thus far) to scathing winds and a surge of Arctic cold, it’s been one beast of a weather week here in Iowa.

Although it started relatively slowly, the Tama County area generally received an estimated four to six inches of snow beginning late on Feb. 11 and lasting through the evening of Feb. 12 with lower amounts in the extreme northwest corner of the county and higher amounts in the extreme southeast corner. In Grundy County, the eastern third including Reinbeck generally received about three to four inches while the western two-thirds received about two to three inches.

The snow was a dry, powdery form that subsequent high winds on Thursday (Feb. 13), whipped around like dry autumn leaves. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the type of snowflakes that fell were of a larger variety called stellar dendrites which led to low visibility and faster snow accumulations during the afternoon hours on Feb. 12.

All area school districts including North Tama and Union canceled classes for the day during the storm; many districts also delayed school by two hours the next day on Feb. 13 due to the intense cold while also dismissing early on Friday, Valentine’s Day, in anticipation of another, albeit less significant round of snow that evening.

According to Tama County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Joe Quandt, just a few vehicles ended up in Tama County ditches during the Feb. 12 storm and there were no major crashes. There were, however, a record number of motorists across the state who collided with Iowa Dept. of Transportation (DOT) snowplows including in nearby Poweshiek County.

A snowplow clears a road in Tama County on Wednesday, Feb. 12. PHOTO COURTESY OF TAMA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE/FACEBOOK

“Winter arrived with a vengeance during Valentine’s Day week, but a record number of Iowa DOT snowplows did not feel the love,” an Iowa DOT news release stated. “The statewide storm system that impacted Iowa on Wednesday, Feb. 12, resulted in a total of 15 snowplow hits, setting a one-day record for equipment strikes during a winter season.”

The previous single-day record was set in 2024 with nine snowplow hits.

The type of snowplow strikes was evenly split between rear-end collisions and side swipes with the collisions happening in the northeast, southeast, and southwest quadrants of the state, primarily on interstates and multi-lane U.S./state highways in the daytime hours. At least one of the snowplows was totaled due to a collision.

“There are a number of factors that are contributing to these hits,” Craig Bargfrede, the Iowa DOT’s winter operations administrator, said as part of the news release. “Many motorists are distracted and not recognizing what is ahead and or adjusting following distance in winter driving conditions, but it’s also clear that speed and visibility are other key reasons.”

In the storm’s wake, a period of extremely cold, dangerous weather set in beginning Sunday (Feb. 16) and lasting through much of this past week with temperatures falling below zero each night and wind chills bottoming out as low as 25 to 40 below zero Tuesday morning.

A calf born this winter weathers the Feb. 12 snowstorm in rural Tama County. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

As of press time, warmer weather appeared likely for this weekend and into early next week, providing a light at the end of the tunnel for winter-averse Iowans.

Twenty-seven days until spring…

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER