A record-setter!

(Above) ISP Officer Mindy Coe walks to close the gates on I-35.

Weekend blizzard paralyzes area

February snowfall reaches 28.6 inches

According to  State Climatologist of Iowa Justin Glisan, our weekend storm was a record-setter.

Month-to-date accumulation is at 28.6 inches, which now ranks as the highest February accumulation on record for the Mason City Municipal Airport. (The airport is the closest weather station to Clear Lake/Ventura).  This breaks the 22.7 inch total from 1962.

The current December through February snowfall total is 47.1 inches, which is the third highest accumulation behind 2011 (47.2 inches) and 1971 (48.0 inches). The station’s period of record is Jan. 1, 1948 to present day.

by Marianne Gasaway and Michelle Watson

Just under a foot of snow and winds gusting 40-50 mph Sunday brought Clear Lake— and most of Iowa, to a standstill over the weekend.

The weather event started with light rain Saturday afternoon, which transformed to freezing rain and eventually snow by that evening.  A good share of the snowfall occurred in the early morning hours Sunday, followed by the wind.

A tow ban was placed into effect about 11 p.m. Saturday, with the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office receiving multiple calls for vehicles in the ditches throughout the county.  Sheriff’s deputies were unable to reach all vehicles stuck at that time.  Under the tow ban deputies only respond to medical emergencies.

By Sunday morning county plows were ordered back to the sheds.

Interstate 35 was closed in north-central Iowa from Ames to the Minnesota border, and continuing to Owatonna, Minn., due to continued whiteout conditions.  A majority of the other highways in north-central Iowa were listed as impassable.

According to the Iowa State Patrol, from midnight on Friday through mid-morning Monday, the Iowa State Patrol responded to 145 crashes and helped more than a thousand stranded motorists.

Clear Lake Police Chief Pete Roth called the nine-inches of snow, high winds, major drifts and whiteout conditions “a recipe for disaster.”

“Plows and police vehicles got stuck and needed assistance,” he said.  “However, from a public safety standpoint, I thought overall the past two days went reasonably well.”

Roth said many people heeded warnings advising against travel.

“I cannot recall anyone being injured as a direct result of the blizzard. Even with the extreme whiteout conditions, the department only responded to two vehicle crashes,” said Roth.  “While we didn’t have to rescue stranded motorists, like the Sheriff’s Office and ISP, we did have our share of disabled vehicles (over 30).  We towed and moved around nine vehicles off Highways 18 and 122. The department responded to 94 calls for service during the two-day period (in contrast to 43 the previous weekend).”

Roth noted his department made a concerted, consistent effort to utilize its social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) to present as much information and pictures as were available and relevant.

“I was surprised to see how many people viewed our blizzard posts. One Facebook post had

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more than 113,000 people reached in 13 hours,” he said. “Our dispatchers tried to help even more callers who were seeking information about the roads and the interstate closure.”

Shelter from the storm

Ambulances from Belmond and Forest City both found shelter from the storm at the Clear Lake Fire Department Sunday night, as well as staff members who couldn’t get home in the storm.

“About half of our staff live out of town and we had some who simply couldn’t get back home,” explained Fire Chief Doug Meyers.  “Thankfully, when we designed the new station we included adequate space for staff members to be able to nap, or stay.”

Ambulance crews from Belmond and Forest City each safely transported patients to Mercy One-North Iowa Sunday, but found it impossible to return to their communities.  The Forest City crew was able to eventually follow a plow home Sunday, however, Belmond’s unit spent the night in Clear Lake.

Chief Meyers reported call volume for his department was average during the storm event.  “We were incredibly fortunate that we didn’t have to go out on I-35,” he said.

Kwik Star, located just east of Interstate 35 on Highway 18, was filled to capacity with an estimated 100 semis and other vehicles Sunday as motorists looked for places to spend the night.

“One family has been here since Sunday morning and we are more than happy o have them,” said Ashley McLaughlin, a shift leader in training at Kwik Star.  “We do our best to keep the food out, lots salted and as clear as possible.”  McLaughlin said she has been with the company for almost five years and has never experienced a weather event like what happened over the weekend.  “We really filled up when the Interstate closed.  There was always a truck waiting for a spot to open if someone should decide to leave.”

Church cancellations

Canceling church services is not something Dr. Rev. Pat Hall, of Zion Lutheran Church, takes lightly.

“I really struggled with what to do,” said Hall.  “I’ve never personally closed a church.  I figure if I can get there and if anyone else can get there we’d have church.  Sunday morning, I literally could not get there.”

Hall said he tried to work out some other options including sending his sermon to another staff pastor to deliver who lives closer to the church.  But when he heard how deep the snow was at the church building he knew he had to cancel.

“I knew some of our parishioners could have walked to church, but I didn’t want to put anyone in danger,” said Hall.

Hall said canceling worship is a difficult decision, because you never know what needs people have that are coming.  He said church is a safe sanctuary and people come because they need prayer and fellowship.

When asked how missing a Sunday of giving affects the church Hall said, “I’m sure that was on every pastor in town’s mind.  No church, no offerings for a week.  The church still has bills to pay and this can cause a hardship.  I hope everyone will keep this in mind next week when it comes time for the offering. People should give out of gratitude that we all survived the storm.”

“I was so worked up about canceling, I felt like I was sinning, because I’ve never been at home on a Sunday morning,” laughed Hall.  “But my wife made waffles and we hunkered in for the day and had church at home.  All in all, it was a wonderful time.”

Pastor Will Hunsaker, from the Open Bible Church, also made the difficult decision to cancel Sunday services.  “I’ve only done that one— maybe two times in 30 years,” he said.  “The snow removal guy said he could clear the lot, but it would probably fill back in by church time and he warned me about how bad the streets were, so it was right to call it off.”

The pastor and his wife, Joyce, provided shelter in the storm to church member and friend, Harvey Austin, who is a plow driver for Cerro Gordo County.  The Hunsakers welcomed Austin to their home Saturday night, knowing he would not be able to get out of his own rural residence to get to work when conditions worsened.  When his boss called early Sunday, he was able to take his place in a plow and begin clearing roads and helping stranded motorists.

Long hours

Clear Lake and Ventura street crews, as well as those in the county, logged many hours battling the snow and drifting.

Clear Lake Public Works Director Joe Weigel said his crews worked through the event, starting at 11 p.m. Saturday and continuing until 5 p.m. Sunday.

“In-town plowing that would normally take us three to five hours, took over 12-hours this time,” he said.  “It was difficult.”

Weigel said the City was using eight pieces of equipment to move the snow and they were pushed to the limit by the difficult conditions.  Two loaders were taken out of commission; one was back in service later in the day while the other is still on the sidelines.  Weigel, who has been in his post for 30 years, said he has come to expect storms like this and says they are prepared to take care of it.

“We seem to have one of these every so many years.  And with the February moisture on the front side, it’s made it more difficult.  We’ll be out all week clearing,” he said. As of Tuesday morning, subdivisions on the north and south ends of town had just one passable lane.

The Iowa DOT’s towing bans in northern Iowa remained in effect until early Monday evening.  Interstate-35 was reopened to northbound traffic at 5 p.m. The southbound lanes between the Minnesota border and the Ames exit had reopened at noon Monday.

Chief Roth stated the police department coordinated efforts with public works, other law enforcement agencies, and the Cerro Gordo County Emergency Management Agency during the storm event.

Battling conditions

Justin Birkhofer, a farmer from south of Clear Lake, put in one of the worst nights of his life Saturday.

Birkhofer has cattle on a farm that is several miles from his home, so getting to the livestock was a necessity.

“I knew I had some cattle that were ready to calf, so I wanted to be there,” said Birkhofer.  “It was snowing so hard at the time, I could only drive about 10 m.p.h.  Once I got there I realized I wasn’t going to get home.”

Birkhofer is waiting to build a home on the farm, so the only buildings there are occupied by livestock.

“I spent the night with the snow-covered cattle in the shed,” said Birkhofer.

Birkhofer said that he did lose two calves during the storm due to premature births and he’s still waiting for others to deliver.

Birkhofer said that once he got home the next day his six-year old daughter, Ayla, asked him why he didn’t sleep in the camper that was being stored in another building on the farm.

“I honestly didn’t even think about that,” said Birkhofer.  “I took her advice when I got back and plugged the camper in.”

Birkhofer said this is the first time he’s seen it this bad, with such big drifts.

“There’s a lot of work to be done to get things back to normal,” said Birkhofer.  “There’s a lot of snow to move on the cattle lots, sillage to get ready and waterers that need thawing.”

Our feathered friends

“With sixteen inches of new snow and sustained winds gusting in excess of 50 mph, the record setting, weekend winter system didn’t do humans or area wildlife any favors, said outdoorsman/writer Lowell Washburn.  “Winter Storm Quiana was one to remember.  While people attempted to shovel sidewalks and clear drifted driveways on Monday, surviving pheasants were also digging out from where they’d spent a very miserable weekend.  Searching for spilled grain, many of those birds are currently showing up along busy North Iowa roadways where vehicle traffic presents yet another winter hazard.”

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