His work has been seen on countless networks, programs and websites.  At such a young age he made himself one of the premiere chasers of his generation, and his skill, work ethic and dedication to this profession is something not easily replaced.

Tonight I learned through storm chaser Reed TImmer of a very fitting tribute for Andy. You can see an image of the tribute below.   Storm chasers and spotters lit up their online feeds to make this image on the map over central Kansas, AG.  I can’t think of a more fitting tribute to someone who dedicated his life to not only seeing tornadoes himself, but sharing it with the world through the power of the video camera and the internet.

The storm chases will continue, but without Andy Gabrielson.  His presence in the field will be missed by many, and his talent never replaced by those who follow him.  You were a good chaser Andy and you will be remembered by us all.

If you would like to leave a message to pay tribute to Andy, you can post a message on a facebook memorial page set up here.

Many portions of Iowa reported more than six inches of snow.  Of course this pales in comparison to the 10”-20” that fell in parts of Nebraska and Colorado.  Nevertheless, this will take some time to clean up.  Some roads remain covered with snow and ice but overall conditions are quickly improving.

No major storms currently in the forecast for the state so we’ll enjoy this breather as hopefully what snow fell today will soon melt away just like the inches that came before them.

For the Des Moines area specifically, the snow could begin as early as Saturday afternoon.  Period of heavy snow are possible before it’s all over.  Road conditions will deteriorate rapidly beginning Saturday morning in western Iowa.  Blowing and drifting snow will also be a problem in this area Saturday Night and Sunday morning.

Of interest with this storm, eastern and northern Iowa should see little if any snow.  Precip should fall as rain before the storm system weakens as it pushes through.  If anything changes we will bring you the latest as it becomes available.  For now we’ll monitor any changes in the snowfall projections.  If you have travel plans in the affected area, it is crucial that you keep up with the latest forecasts before deciding whether or not to go ahead with your plans.

You can see in the graphic to the left that forecasted totals have dropped significantly in the last 24 hours. When all is said and done, many parts of the state could stay dry. Cold air expected to rush in on the back side of the storm system is not that impressive. Blowing and drifting of any snow that falls, especially in the western third of the state, still needs to be monitored.

With all of this in mind, the National Weather Service has scaled back on it’s Winter Storm Watch, focusing primarily on southwest Iowa. That’s where the greatest threat of measurable snowfall still exists. Heavy snow is now a very tough sell right now, but will still monitor the situation over the next 24 hour in case, once again, we see another change in this storm’s track.

Western parts of Iowa appear to be most at risk.  Taking a look at the latest model runs, I’m somewhat concerned about a southern shift in the forecasted track.  If this continues in future projections the forecast could change quite a bit.  For now though we’ll focus on the watch area.  This is where there is the greatest potential of 4”-8” inches of snow with locally higher amounts.

As I said in my previous post, the biggest question mark with this storm system is when and where the rain will change over to snow.  Some projections want to have that happen earlier in the event, which would increase the snow totals in affected areas.  Meanwhile, areas that stay above freezing longer will see little accumulation but a lot of rain.

It’s a very tight line between the two, and very little room for error.  Without getting into too much specifics we’ll stick with the watch for now.  Later today I hope to have a better handle on what we’re dealing with. Either way, this storm will impact a lot of travel plans here in Iowa this weekend so stay tuned.

Below is our new video cast. This is just a test run and we are still determining if we’ll make this a more permanent feature of iowachase.com

Beginning Friday, rain and snow will overspread the state. Most areas will see rain during the first half of the storm. But there are a lot of variables that will have a major impact on how much snow any given area will see. At this time we expect to see a changeover to snow over much of the state sometime late Friday and into Saturday. A sector of central and northeast Iowa from Des Moines to Waterloo and up towards Decorah currently looks like the most likely place to see heavy snowfall. But again, this all depends on when the changeover to snow occurs.

Also a factor is the potential for severe weather on the southern side of this storm. Strong storms in Kansas and Missouri could cut off moisture here in Iowa and impact rain and snow totals. With all that being said, we also face a very sharp cutoff between significant snowfall and plain old rain south and east of the areas I mentioned earlier. So what does this all mean? It means the snow is coming, but not everyone will get it.

The current thinking is Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and possibly Dubuque will be spared most of the snow. Areas north and west of this area could see anywhere from 2″-8″ of snow with locally higher amounts possible depending, again, on the changeover and moisture available. Further to the northwest towards Fort Dodge and Sioux City precip should fall as all snow but in much lighter amounts.

We will continue to monitor any changes in the forecast and bring you updates once watches are posted, perhaps as soon as Thursday.

This is a picture of the Moon.  I want to tell you this took a lot of work but it really didn’t.  With the help of my dSLR camera and a strong telephoto lens I snapped this image after about five minutes of trial and error with the correct manual settings.

I was amazed at the detail my little camera could make out of an exceptionally bright moon. It is one of my favorite pictures in recent memory and really gave me something to do during this storm chasing off-season.

Every now and then we catch ourselves just looking up at the moon, it’s easy to do.  I’m just glad on this particular night I was able to capture the moment with my lens.