Odds Are, Dubuque Will See Three Inches of Snow, Tonight (2/19)…

...Or maybe just an inch. Either way, if you’ve lived in Dubuque and the Tri-States long enough, you know better than to pack away the winter coat just because we flirted with the 70s. And yet, here we are again. After enjoying what felt like a preview of patio season or faux-spring, as I call it, temperatures are sliding back down toward reality. I mean, it is February, and by reality, I mean snow boots and windshield scrapers... again!

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Both Midwest Weather (whom I regularly follow now) and our partners at KWWL are highlighting a narrow but impactful band of snow setting up across portions of eastern Iowa tonight. The key phrase in those warnings is rain-to-snow transition. That line will determine who cashes in on higher totals of powder and who gets mostly rain. Either way, they're talking 3 to 6 inches in a line across parts of Iowa, and into Wisconsin and Illinois.

Clouds increase today as a low-pressure system tracks slightly farther south. Highs will only reach the upper 30s (North) to upper 40s (South), much cooler than earlier projections. North winds will turn breezy at 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph. This could lead to drifting and flash freezing in some areas. Rain and even a possible storm could move into southern counties by mid-afternoon. By early evening, colder air wrapping in will flip rain over to a wet snow across the Tri-State area.

Overnight is when impacts ramp up, as a narrow corridor of moderate snowfall is expected to develop. Midwest Weather notes snowfall rates could approach one inch per hour at times. When that happens, even warm pavement doesn’t stand a chance. Additionally, frozen and icy roadways will become an issue with the dropping temperatures.

KWWL’s latest forecast calls for 3 to 6 inches roughly between Highway 18 and Highway 30, which places Dubuque squarely in the zone where around 3 inches looks increasingly likely, with locally higher totals possible if the heavier band sets up directly overhead. Snow tapers early Friday morning, but lingering gusty northwest winds could continue drifting snow.

So yes, after sunshine and near 70s, Dubuque is likely waking up to snow shoveling and road salt. In Iowa, seasonal transitions aren’t gentle. They’re chaotic, dramatic, and usually wind-driven. Tonight just might be the perfect example.