Blowing snow quickly undoes the progress of an Iowa DOT snowplow between Washington and Kalona Saturday afternoon, as a community member uses farm equipment to clear a side road. (Kalen McCain/The Union)

WASHINGTON - Back to back snowstorms followed by historically low temperatures in the last week caused numerous headaches for Southeast Iowans as thermometers showed negative numbers and wind chills dropped as far as 45 below.

The conditions made road-clearing difficult. Washington County Engineer Jacob Thorius said the wet snowfall on Jan. 9 made plowing gravel roads difficult, and that the short window of time before the next snowfall made clearing other roads difficult as well.

Thorius said Washington County employees had spent something like 1700 combined work hours clearing roads in the last week. By Friday, resources were focused almost entirely on keeping up with accumulation on paved surfaces, but crews struggled to make progress as the wind undid their work.

“We’d push stuff back, and within half an hour, you’d see areas where you couldn’t tell we’d been through there,” Thorius said. “The wind was the biggest challenge to go with this volume of snow. We’ve got drifts that are five feet deep, spots that are six and eight feet deep, so it’s been hard to get that moved.”

Most gravel roads in Washington County had at least one lane cleared by noon Monday according to Thorius, who said crews would continue clearing them throughout the week.

Extreme weather complicated the county’s response. Thorius said close to zero road salt was applied after the snowfall, with high winds blowing the stuff off roads and low temperatures minimizing its effectiveness anyway.

Thorius said he appreciated the public’s patience as operations continue, also offering a thank you to various farmers who cleared large swaths of roadside using their own equipment, lessening the load on county crews.

“It was not a typical storm, even series of storms, we have not seen something like this for quite some time,” he said. “We are doing what we can to get out there and open stuff up ... we are going to keep moving forward this week to try to widen stuff out.”

The Iowa Department of Transportation declared that travel was “not advised” on almost any highway through Eastern Iowa on Saturday, according to its 511 road conditions map. While conditions improved by Monday, the state said Highway 218 north of Riverside and Highway 1 north of Kalona were still “completely covered with snow” Monday morning. Other stretches - like 218 between Olds and Mt. Pleasant, and virtually every highway in Jefferson County - were “partially covered” on Monday morning as well.

The Iowa DOT did not immediately reply to a request for comments on the cause of the varying state road conditions in Southeast Iowa.

Visibility in downtown Washington Friday morning was about a block, due to heavy snow (Kalen McCain/The Union)

In the city of Washington, several reports came in during the blizzard of plows themselves getting stuck. Construction and Maintenance Superintendent JJ Bell said that was to be expected, but that getting them un-stuck slowed the street-clearing process.

“We got stuck many times,” he said. “It takes half an hour to an hour to get somebody un-stuck, then that’s an our or two that two plows aren’t working, so it made it last a little bit longer than normal.”

Many streets in town are still covered in a thin but dense layer of snow and ice, further packed down by commuters after plows swept through, piling the accumulation into mountains of ice on spots that used to serve as parking spaces.

Bell made a plea with residents to get their cars off roads on nights that plows run, even now that the snow has stopped falling.

“It would be nice if people would get their vehicles off the street if there’s any way possible,” he said. “Using the neighbor’s driveway, or ... parking it in the yard would make things go a lot smoother.”

Automatic snow parking alert texts from the city advised downtown residents to clear the square for plows Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Sunday night last week. The Washington Police Department said Sunday that cars could be ticketed and towed this week if they didn’t comply with the snow ordinance.

“If you're parked on the street and have seen a plow go by, please move your vehicle to a portion of the street on the other side of the street or down the block that is clear,” the department said in a Facebook post. “Those in the downtown area, please read the Ordinance carefully. It (does not include) ‘any portion of Second Street, Second Avenue, Jefferson Street or Avenue B,’ so if these streets are cleared of snow to the curb ... you can park there. The focus during the 10 p.m. - 6 a.m. time frame is the square area.”

Alissa Schroeder captured a beautiful sky against snow covered fields near Salem over the weekend. (Photo by Alissa Schroeder)

MT. PLEASANT — Henry County saw similar issues clearing snow and keeping it cleared as much of Southeast Iowa, but officials say the danger of winter weather still lies ahead.

“With us having the snow prior, you know, and it down so hard and so fast that road crews were having a hard time keeping up with the snow removal,” Henry County Emergency Management Director Walt Jackson said.

Despite the Iowa Department of Transportation not advising traveling throughout a majority of the state over the weekend, Jackson noted that he saw many driving around Henry County.

According to County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss this is specifically an issue when these vehicles got stuck and left behind. When crews encounter these vehicles as they try to remove snow, they must turn around if they are unable to get past.

One motorist saw this dragon carnival ride in the ditch between lanes on Highway 218 as she traveled north to Iowa City, Friday. (Photo submitted)

Even without encountering stuck vehicles, Hotchkiss says last week’s storms made work slow and difficult for county crews as they fought against large amounts of accumulated snow paired with wind that quickly refilled plowed roadways.

As the hard work of city, county, and state snow removal crews makes roads travel-safe starting the new week, Henry County Sheriff’s Office encourages motorist continue to check 511ia.org for road conditions and proceed with caution as they venture out.

“With the break from intense wind, county roads that have been opened are tending to remain open,” Henry County Sheriff’s Office stated Monday morning.

The sheriff’s office also reminded drivers that “mullets” are best left as a hairstyle instead of a pile of snow on top of vehicles finally getting out after the storms.

“Leaving snow on your vehicle poses a hazard to others,” they informed. “At any time it can blow off and obstruct other drivers’ view and if the mullet becomes icy it can pose a hazard to windshields too.”

According to Jackson, Southeast Iowa is not out of the woods yet when it comes to the dangers of winter weather as the National Weather Service issued a Wind Chill Warning through noon Tuesday, Jan. 16 for Henry, Washington, Jefferson, and many surrounding counties.

“As you get out and about take it slow, and with the frigid temperatures ensure you have plenty to keep you warm in case of a vehicle emergency,” the sheriff’s office stated.

“Limit or avoid spending time outside,” Jackson advised. “If you must be outdoors, make sure to dress in layers and cover all exposed skin!”

The warning states that wind chills for the area could get as low as 30-40 degrees below zero and “the dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.”

FAIRFIELD – Friday’s blizzard was so bad that the City of Fairfield told its plow drivers to stay off the road around noon that day.

Fairfield City Engineer and Public Works Director Melanie Carlson said the blowing snow had created conditions that weren’t safe for the drivers.

“We did have one vehicle go into a ditch,” Carlson said. “There was no significant damage. The person is fine and the vehicle is fine. It happened because [the driver] was not able to see the edge of the road.”

The road crews worked Saturday and into Sunday clearing the major arteries in town, and then vowed to clear the alleys by noon Monday. Carlson said that North 12th Street was hit hard, and that a road crew was out on Sunday using excavators to clear that street.

The Fairfield Police Department responded to multiple cars that got stuck on or near the railroad tracks. Carlson said everyone was fortunate that the railroad company, BNSF, was made aware of the problem so there was no “horrific accident.”

“The police department was out pushing a lot of vehicles,” Carlson said. “They were pushing vehicles off [the tracks] as soon as they could, but it was enough to delay the trains.”

On Saturday morning, the City of Fairfield announced that all railroad crossings in the city would be closed until further notice. The crossings were opened on Sunday afternoon.

Carlson said she has been “unbelievably proud” at the dedication of Fairfield and Jefferson County’s plow drivers and all the employees who have had to battle through back-to-back winter storms.

“We have wonderful employees at the city-level and county-level as well,” she said. “They take their jobs very seriously.”

Waste Management has announced that any trash or recycling that was not picked up last week would be picked up on Monday, Jan. 15, and that the rest of the week should be normal trash pickup as scheduled.