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Travel, especially to the north, will not be advised this weekend as northwest Iowa's on-again, off-again winter storm pattern continues.
The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Thursday continued to add counties to a weekend blizzard watch. The watch area has slowly been creeping its way south and east and included the Iowa Great Lakes area, the Sibley area and Lyon County as of 3:39 p.m.
That's the second of two storms set to arrive in the span of three days: Four to seven inches of snow were possible in Spencer during the overnight hours leading into Friday morning. A snow emergency was declared in the city and the area was under a winter weather advisory for Thursday night. The storms will likely cap a busy week for the snow-blowing industry -- Spencer received six inches of snow on Tuesday.
Winds make the weekend storm especially dangerous. Northwest winds of 25 to 40 mph were expected to make travel difficult Saturday night and Sunday.
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, S.D.:
* Four to seven inches of snow were expected to arrive, mainly after 9 p.m. Thursday for the Spencer area. Heavier totals were expected south of Spencer. The Storm Lake area, for example, was expected to get six to nine inches of snow.
* Spencer was in line for three to five inches of snow with Saturday's storm. Areas north of Interstate 90 could receive more than five inches of snow.
* Winds are a significant concern with the weekend system and may create blizzard conditions, especially to the north of Spencer. The gusts will come from the northwest at 20 to 40 mph.