IOWA — It will be a double whammy of bad weather overnight for Central Iowa. We’ve started to see the first of it with the early morning thunderstorms that brought less than a quarter inch of rain to Des Moines. More rain will build in this afternoon and continue into the evening.

A BLIZZARD WARNING and HIGH WIND WARNING go into effect late tonight and will last through 3 PM on Wednesday.

The snow will begin in western Iowa this evening and will transition to snow in the Des Moines Metro closer to midnight. Some of the heaviest snow will fall between 1 and 4 AM.

We’re looking at about 2 to 4″ possible for Des Moines to Ames and a swath of 5 to 8″ in Northwest Iowa from Carroll to Mason City.

The snow will not be the biggest problem, however. The wind is what we are very concerned about. We will have a period of 12 hours of 30-40 mph sustained winds with potentially some 60 mph gusts through the night and Wednesday at noon.

The strong winds and heavy snow combo could lead to issues with trees and powerlines, and some power outages are possible overnight and Wednesday morning.