Iowa City Weather Alert: Winter Storm Draco Updated to Blizzard Warning; 10 to 15 Inches of Snow Expected

So you may have heard, but it's probably going to snow a lot tonight and tomorrow, and then get really windy tomorrow.

This storm, dubbed Winter Storm Draco by the Weather Channel is currently in Nebraska and heading this way. The National Weather Service in the Quad Cities has upgraded our area from a winter storm warning to a Blizzard warning. Here are some relevent details on that:

MAJOR WINTER STORM TO IMPACT THE AREA TONIGHT AND THURSDAY... .AN INTENSE WINTER STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT AND THURSDAY...BRINGING HEAVY SNOW...HIGH WINDS AND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS. SNOWFALL TOTALS OF 10 TO 15 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF EAST CENTRAL IOWA INTO NORTHWEST ILLINOIS WITH LESSER AMOUNTS TO THE SOUTHEAST. VERY STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS WILL BE GUSTING TO AT 50 TO 55 MPH. THIS WILL RESULT IN LIFE THREATENING BLIZZARD CONDITIONS FOR ANYONE THAT BECOMES STRANDED OR OTHERWISE NOT PREPARED.

TIMING...RAIN OR A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW THIS AFTERNOON WILL CHANGE TO MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW THIS EVENING...WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MOST OF THURSDAY MORNING. LIGHT SNOW SHOULD GRADUALLY DIMINISH OR END THURSDAY AFTERNOON. * SNOWFALL...SNOWFALL TOTALS OF 8 TO 12 INCHES. LOCALLY AS HIGH AS 15 INCHES. * WIND...NORTH WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 25 TO 30 MPH TONIGHT WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH POSSIBLE. THURSDAY...NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 30 TO 40 MPH WITH SOME GUSTS AS HIGH AS 55 MPH. * VISIBILITY...THE COMBINATION OF SNOW AND HIGH WINDS WILL RESULT IN CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW AND AREAS OF POOR VISIBILITY. VISIBILITIES WILL BE REDUCED TO NEAR ZERO ESPECIALLY IN OPEN AREAS. * TEMPERATURE/WIND CHILL...TEMPERATURES WILL FALL THROUGH THE 20S TO THE TEENS BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. WIND CHILLS MAY BE AS LOW AS ZERO TOWARD EVENING. * IMPACTS...TRAVEL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY DETERIORATE THIS EVENING. DUE TO INITIAL WARM PAVEMENT TEMPERATURES... ROADWAYS MAY BECOME ICY. HIGH WINDS AND ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL LEAD TO BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. TRAVEL WILL BECOME DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS THAT FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW...STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES OF ONE-QUARTER MILE OR LESS ARE OCCURRING OR IMMINENT. THIS WILL CAUSE WHITEOUT CONDITIONS... MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL! IF YOU MUST TRAVEL DUE TO AN EMERGENCY...TAKE YOUR WINTER SURVIVAL KIT. IF YOU GET STRANDED...STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE UNTIL HELP ARRIVES.