Old Man Winter is finally here after an extended vacation. He is already bringing heavy snow just off to our west, and as the day proceeds it will make its way across the state. Check local listings, but the main call from the National Weather Service is for 6-12 inches across the state, and temperatures falling in the wake of the storm.
Now, in January, we expect snow. Many of us usually don’t look forward to it. However, we are dry in Iowa. Two years of low rainfall have us wanting to hoard every drop of moisture. We aren’t even picky as to which form of moisture we get.
So how much moisture will this bring to our soil?
To put it into perspective, an inch of rain is equivalent to 13” of snow. So this storm would be dropping the equivalent of a half-inch to an inch of rain in the state over the next 36 hours.
Before you celebrate, there are other factors to consider. Snow does not give moisture to the ground until it melts. While the air temperatures should hold above freezing, the 4-inch ground temperatures in the state today are right around freezing in the northern half of the state. The southern part of the state has soil temps in the upper thirties. This means we won’t see moisture absorption on this snow.
Temperatures are also going to plummet after this storm, which means the ground is going to freeze hard, which is what we need for the normal cycle of agriculture. However, when this snow melts in the spring, it will run off to the creeks and rivers before it soaks into the ground.
Eric Snodgrass is the Principal Atmospheric Scientist for Nutrien Ag Solutions. He talks about what we can expect with this system.
He adds that El Niño has already peaked and plateaued. But there is more going on than just that.
No matter what form and how much or how little makes it into the ground; every drop of water and every flake of snow is needed.
No matter how much snow we get this winter, Snodgrass says this is not going to be a quick fix for our soil moisture.
