Strong winter storm to sweep across Iowa

A strong snow storm is poised to dump several inches of snow on Iowa and other parts of the upper Midwest in what for some will be the first real blast of winter.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines is predicting up to 7 inches of snow in northern and eastern Iowa on Friday. It comes after several weeks of unusually warm and dry weather.

Forecaster Kevin Skow says the ?bulls-eye? of the storm will likely be in northeast Iowa, from Waterloo up to Decorah, where higher amounts of dry, fluffy snow could fall. Several inches of snow also are forecast in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois as the storm moves east.

Lesser amounts are expected in central and southern Iowa, with 2 inches in the Des Moines area.