textproduct: Des Moines

KEY MESSAGES

- Dense Fog Advisory through Friday morning, more fog possible tonight.

- Precipitation arrives Saturday evening, mainly rain in the south and a mix of snow/freezing rain north. Snow amounts under an inch and ice accumulations under 0.05".

- Wind gusts up to 40mph possible Sunday afternoon, leading to visibility reductions from snowfall.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 328 AM CST Fri Dec 26 2025

Dense fog and stratus continued to be common overnight along with drizzle. Northwest flow aloft will persist behind the surface high today, but it will not possess strong enough CAA to erode the warm layer. Stratus will stick around in the weak flow beneath the inversion. Fog will again be common tonight as ridging centers back over the state. Have trended pessimistic with high temperatures through Saturday, going below NBM guidance. An approaching low will advect more moisture into the state; we will likely see extended cloud cover due to the deformation axis overhead, followed by the typical cold season shallow mixed layer trapping stubborn stratus. Precipitation will be common beginning Saturday evening in the south, expanding northwestward. Sunday high temperatures occur right around midnight, falling beyond. Precipitation will start as rain, then transition to snow/freezing rain beginning in the northwest Sunday morning. A trend this package is the struggle to maintain ice introduction in profiles, meaning that there could be more freezing rain than snow. Still, as mentioned in the previous discussion, snow that falls in the windy conditions Sunday will lead to visibility reductions. Pair that with ice accumulations and travel conditions could be hazardous. Snowfall amounts will be up to an inch in the north. Minor ice accumulations (under 0.05") will be possible in the north and into central Iowa.

We'll begin next week on the cool side with highs near 20 degrees Monday, but there will be some warming ahead of the next window of precipitation around midweek.

AVIATION /12Z TAFS THROUGH 12Z SATURDAY/

Issued at 542 AM CST Fri Dec 26 2025

Vsby improvements seen over southern Iowa this morning, so have trended more optimistic over the next 6 hours for KDSM and KOTM. However, northern Iowa may see minimal, if not any, reprieve from some influence of fog today. Kept sites such as KMCW and KALO with vsby restrictions through the day. Additional fog possible after 00z for all sites. Cigs will remain largely IFR/LIFR.

DMX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Dense Fog Advisory until 9 AM CST this morning for IAZ004>007- 015>017-023>028-033>039-044>050-057>062-070>075-081>086- 092>097.