Springtime in Iowa tends to be a guessing game. Sometimes Iowa experiences spring-like temps in January and February. Sometimes tremendous amounts of snow falls in late March or April (luckily these late snows melt quickly). There is one week of weather, however, that many Iowans feel they can predict.
State Basketball Tournaments
No one seems to fret much about the weather during the boys’ tournament. It is commonly assumed that the blizzards will be gone by then. It is the first week in March that is of concern, of course.
The general consensus around Iowa is that there will be a major winter storm during the girls’ high school basketball tournament. Even the local meteorologists joke about it year after year. Nearly all former state basketball players and attendees can tell a story about the horrible weather they had to drive through to get to Des Moines for the tournament one year or another. Is there any real merit to the stories?
Weather History
According to NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), it is actually pretty rare for Iowa to experience a major snowstorm in early March. Their research shows that 95% of the time, there should be “nice” weather for the both the girls’ and boys’ tournaments. Of course, they don’t consider a snowstorm to be severe unless over 6” is predicted.
That being said, there have been two major snowstorms during the girls’ tournament in recent history. In 1998 and 1999, there were snowfalls totaling over 11” in 24 hours and they were both on March 8th. Because this happened two consecutive years, the storms probably contribute to all the hype around state basketball snowstorms.
Several other snowstorms during girls’ tournaments occurred in the 50s and 60s. There have been smaller snow totals in more recent years, but nothing near the totals in the late 90s.
Predictions for 2009’s Tournament
The Farmer's Almanac is always a fun tool for checking out weather predictions each year. According to their long-range 2009 forecast, the Heartland (which includes Iowa) should expect its snowiest periods early each month of the winter season – including early March.
Their more detailed forecast states, “snowstorm, then sunny and cold,” for the first four days of March. Seems inevitable even this year, as the girls’ tournament starts on March 2nd, that it will snow during the tournament. Wanting a more reliable source? The Weather Channel is not predicting any snowfall for early March – yet.
Does State Tournament = Snowstorm?
All in all, it’s a safe bet that it there will be snow in Iowa this March. However, it may not necessarily fall during the girls’ high school state basketball tournament, so get out there and cheer on those athletes. Pack the ice scraper/snow brush just in case.
 |
