Snow covers much of Iowa, more predicted

Jen Vander Wilt, a student at DMACC Newton campus, found a job waiting for her after classes Thursday afternoon. Snow began falling shortly after noon, piling up quickly and with many places still icy from last week’s storm, creating hazardous walking and driving conditions. John Jennings/Daily News

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DES MOINES (AP) — About 4 1/2 inches of snow blanketed parts of the state Thursday, prompting dangerous conditions for motorists trudging through freshly covered roads and heavy snowfall. Snow began falling early in the morning in western Iowa and continued falling in central and eastern Iowa into the evening. Several traffic accidents occurred, with dozens of vehicles sliding into ditches across the state but no major injuries reported. “It was kind of a white-knuckle drive on the way to work today,” said Steve Teachout, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Des Moines. Teachout said southern and central Iowa received most of the snowfall, with Manning and Bussey each receiving about 4 1/2 inches. Northern Iowa received significantly less, with Waterloo recording 1 1/2 inches. Officially, Newton received four inches of snow, which began shortly after noon. With many parking lots and sidewalks still coated with ice, the snow created treacherous conditions for pedestrians, not to mention a slow and miserable commute for motorists. The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office reported more than 50 minor accidents Thursday afternoon and evening. The worst of those, a five-vehicle chain-reaction accident, which closed portions of Interstate 80 east of Newton for several hours. According to the Iowa Highway Patrol, the incident began when a semi-trailer jackknifed in the westbound lanes a couple miles east of the 168 exit shortly after 4 p.m., bringing traffic to a standstill. Because of the backup, five vehicles, four of them semi-trailers, were unable to stop in time and struck one another near the Lynnville exit at mile marker 176. One of the semi drivers, Larry McElfresh, 62, of Old Fort, N.C., was transported to Grinnell Regional Hospital and treated for minor injuries. A Jasper County dispatcher said the interstate was reopened about 8:30 p.m. In Newton, Public Works Director Dave Stewart said the full complement of street crew worked all night keeping ahead of the storm, and by morning all city streets had been covered at least once. The city has limited storage space for salt, and last week’s ice storm depleted the supply, so an additional order had to be made. Public Works is now utilizing its new brine machine, which creates the liquid salt mixture for applying to city streets. In downtown Newton, the snow was piled in windrows, and will be hauled away later this evening. Elsewhere in Jasper County, Secondary Roads Department foreman Dennis Bucklin said crews were working on the gravel roads by 4 a.m. this morning, plowing and sanding. With low wind speeds during this storm, there was very little drifting in the rural areas, and all roads are now open. Bucklin said he hoped to have all highways 100 percent clear and all gravel roads cleared to two lanes by this evening. State transportation crews were busy clearing roads and responding to traffic issues for much of the day, said Dena Gray-Fisher, spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Transportation. Temperatures in several parts of the state were well below the average, Teachout said. Des Moines, for example, had a high of 26 degrees, 10 degrees below normal for this time of year, he said. Iowans will get a break from the snow on Friday, but will likely need the snow shovels again Saturday with more precipitation expected across much of the state, Teachout said. Northern Iowa will get up to 4 inches.