IOWA – Widespread freezing rain over the weekend brought slick conditions and power outages to most of central and eastern Iowa. Many reports of ice amounts over a quarter of an inch were reported to the National Weather Service, with the highest totals observed near the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City metros. Many accidents occurred with multiple jackknifed semis reported on Interstate 80, along with numerous power outages in southeast Iowa. Two-thirds of an inch of ice was recorded in Cedar Rapids in the highest report.

KELLOGG – A Lynnville woman was killed in a crash with a semi truck on Saturday afternoon just south of Kellogg. The Iowa State Patrol reports an International MV607 operated by Leticia Penate De Rodriguez of Des Moines was traveling southbound on County Highway T-22 near the I-80 interchange when it went off the edge of the road. The driver overcorrected to the left and crossed the centerline. A 2021 Chevorlet Silverado driven by 56-year-old Gerry Lee Van Dyke was traveling northbound on T-22 and collided head on with the semi. The passenger in the Silverado, identified as 51-year-old Jill Christine Van Dyke, died at the scene.

IOWA – Three years ago this past Sunday, Iowa was hit with a rare weather phenomenon for the state of Iowa, and the nation. The National Weather Service described the December 15th, 2021 derecho as the only time in recorded weather history that the wind-based thunderstorm complex impacted any part of the United States in the final month of the year. Officially, it set the new record for most tornadoes in Iowa and the most EF-2/F-2 or stronger tornadoes in a single day since 1950. After the line of storms had passed, numerous strong, non-thunderstorm wind gusts over 70 mph occurred overnight — including what was the highest in over 50 years at the Des Moines Airport.