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Snow day

Storm leaves FD with 3.5 inches of snowfall, few accidents reported

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Eastbound traffic moves on Veterans Bridge along First Avenue South Tuesday as heavy snow falls. Reports of over 3 inches of snow fell in Fort Dodge on Tuesday. Despite snow covered roads, few accidents were reported in the afternoon.

The winter storm anticipated by residents on Tuesday passed through the Fort Dodge area throughout the late morning and early afternoon — leaving the city with about 3.5 inches of snow on the ground.

Fortunately, the ice and snow covered roads resulted in few accidents.

Sgt. Steve Hanson, of the Fort Dodge Police Department, said there were a few accidents reported within city limits — none with injuries.

“There hasn’t been a lot of accidents,” he said. “We had a semi that got a flat tire on Kenyon Road, kind of by South Junior High.”

Other than that incident, Hanson described the traffic as light.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
A Webster County employee removes snow from the county courthouse parking lot Tuesday afternoon in a John Deere snow blower. Reports of over 3 inches of snow fell in Fort Dodge during the snowstorm.

“It’s definitely winter driving,” he said. “A couple of cars spun out. The plows are out doing their thing.”

Webster County Deputy Jenny Randleman said Tuesday afternoon that two vehicles ended up in the ditch due to the conditions.

“It’s icy in some spots,” she said.

The Iowa Department of Transportation reported only partially covered roads in most of northern Iowa by midafternoon Tuesday. Most law enforcement agencies in the region reported few to no service calls and accidents.

“Traffic was pretty light, which helped,” said Sgt. Wes Niles of the Iowa State Patrol.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Snow accumulates along North 13th Street near Eighth Avenue North Tuesday. The continuous snowfall created slick roads Tuesday, but no major accidents had been reported within the city or Webster County.

Other than a few accident and service calls along U.S. Highway 20 in Webster County and Interstate 35, Niles said the day brought on by the weather was “pleasantly uneventful.”

Accidents included vehicles in ditches and a jackknifed semitrailer on Highway 20 westbound near the Iowa State Patrol’s District 7 Post.

No tow bans were enacted, as Department of Transportation plows were able to keep up with snow accumulation. Niles reported some snow drifting on roads with winds of approximately 15 mph. He said the region did experience brief whiteouts during the day, but conditions improved immensely by the end of the day as snowfall slowed and winds calmed, bringing visibility to about a mile.

The ISP expects conditions to improve with diminishing winds through today.

Sheriffs’ offices and dispatch centers for Calhoun, Hamilton, Humboldt, Kossuth, Pocahontas and Wright counties reported no accidents or storm-related service calls throughout the day.

“It’s slick in spots,” said Calhoun County Sheriff Pat Riley, “some snow on roads by farm places.”

Wright County dispatchers noted that roads are covered in some places and certain intersections had more build up than others, but the county’s roads department stayed out late to clear roads before wrapping up for the night.

Snow totals were higher south of Fort Dodge. Johnston recorded 6 inches of snow, according to Jeff Johnson, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines.

“Fort Dodge was on the lesser side of this event,” Johnson said.

Meanwhile, Webster County made use of its 30 snow plows and 14 road graders.

Jamie Johll, Webster County engineer, said the snow showed up a little earlier than predicted, but wasn’t overwhelming.

“Today wasn’t too bad,” Johll said. “It wasn’t any worse than we expected. It was one of those storms where no one knew where the heavy storms would hit.”

The county’s maintenance department has 38 employees.

“Our initial effort is always open up the blacktops and keep them clear and safe,” Johll said.

Within the county, he said there’s 290 miles of paved roads and about 900 miles of gravel roads.

“We will stick to hard surface roads because people really rely on those to get from city to city,” he said. “Once we are on top of the paved roads, we will get to the gravel roads.”

He said the department did its job.

“We were prepared and my guys came to work and took care of business,” Johll said.

The plows were to be out again at 4 a.m.

Some freezing rain was forecasted overnight into today. After that, Johnson said the seven-day forecast looks “pretty dry.”

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