Road Conditions, Power Outages, Parking Rules and Other Things You Need to Know in Winter Weather

As winter weather bears down on Iowa, here's some information you may need to know.

Cancellations:

Patch will try to keep an up-to-date list of cancellations, but you can also find out if school's out directly by going to the Cedar Falls schools website. The City of Cedar Falls cancellation and closure announcements are also available online.

You can also sign up for weather and cancellation text message alerts from KWWL here, KCRG here and KGAN here.

Road conditions:

The Iowa Department of Transportation has an up-to-date map of road conditions here.

Power Outages:

Power out? Call Cedar Falls Utilities at (319) 268-6999 to report outages.

Weather Warnings, Watches and Advisories:

Want to know how serious the inclement weather is? Check the National Weather Service's website for a complete list of weather warnings, watches and advisories for the state and Black Hawk County.

Parking:

The City of Cedar Falls will sometimes issue a 48-hour parking ordinance to facilitate plowing. This means all cars parked on city streets will be issued citations during the ordinance period. Owners of cars issued citations that do not move their vehicle to private driveways or already-plowed areas of city streets within 48 hours will be towed.

If the city issues a snow emergency, residents should not park on roads marked "snow emergency route." You can find a full list of those streets at the city's website.

You can sign up to be notified via email about city snow-related and other emergency announcements here. Patch will also put out an announcement when a parking ordinance has been issued.

Shoveling

City residents are required by city ordinance to clear their abutting sidewalks of snow and ice, "within a reasonable amount of time," usually within 24 or 48 hours of the snowfall. Residents that do not clear their sidewalks will have a notice hung on their door. If within 24 hours of the notice they have not cleared their sidewalk, they will receive a letter in the mail. If snow is still not removed, the city may send someone to clear the sidewalk, and the property owner will be billed for the labor.

Plowing:

Plows go out as quickly as possible, and the city asks for patience, as main roads are the priority and on days of heavy or blowing snow, road clearing can take time. Anyone with a question about plowing can call the Public Works Department at (319) 273-8629.