Blizzard conditions inhibit area travel, activities
A picture from an Iowa Department of Transportation traffic camera near the Floyd intersection of U.S. 218 and U.S. 18, at 4:09 Sunday. Iowa DOT photo.
This picture was taken through the front window of an Iowa Department of Transportation snow plow on the Avenue of the Saints west of Floyd at 4:46 p.m. Sunday. Iowa DOT photo.
This picture was taken through the front window of an Iowa Department of Transportation snow plow on the Avenue of the Saints west of Floyd at 4:05 p.m. Sunday. Iowa DOT photo.
Do you want to build a snowman? Yes. The Endelmans, Daxx, 3; Maxx, 4; and Lexx, 10; took advantage of the relatively nicer weather earlier Saturday to build a snowperson. Photo submitted
By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com
Sunday afternoon, the sky was bright blue and dotted with clouds — when you could see the sky, that is.
Charles City and much of the area were under blizzard conditions starting Saturday night and through much of the day Sunday.
Country roads and highways were a dangerous combination of almost 7½ inches of new snow and gusting winds, creating whiteout conditions and new drifts almost as quickly as plows could clear them — when the plows were even out.
The Floyd County Sheriff’s Office issued this warning Sunday afternoon:
“The Iowa DOT is closing the Avenue of the Saints from Nashua to Clear Lake. The roadways are impassable and will worsen at sundown. Plows are being pulled until (Monday) morning.
“This is a life-threatening situation. The Sheriff’s Office will only be able to respond to medical emergency situations if we can. If you travel and get stuck, there is a real chance we will not be able to get to you until morning,” it said.
In addition to closing the Avenue, the DOT earlier in the day closed Interstate 35 from the Minnesota border to Ames, and warned early Sunday evening that it might not open until sometime later Monday morning.
Many business that are usually open Sundays decided to keep the doors closed Sunday, and area schools began announcing Monday class cancelations beginning in mid-afternoon.
By 5 p.m., the Charles City Community School District announced no classes Monday because of the blizzard and road conditions. RRMR and Nashua-Plainfield also canceled classes for Monday.
The 7.4 inches of snow officially recorded in Charles City increase the February total to 32 inches, setting a record by beating the 30.2-inch previous monthly high set in 1962.
So far, Charles City has received 45.6 inches of snow since Dec. 1 — 1.5 inches in a dry December, 12.1 inches in January and the 32 inches so far in February. The average annual snowfall for the city is 36.4 inches.
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