How Much Snow Will Winter Storm Draco Dump on Johnston?

Forget a little snow to ease us back into winter. Mother Nature has other ideas.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines officially upgraded Johnston and other areas of the Des Moines metro to a winter storm warning on Wednesday. The area had originally been under a winter storm watch.

The warning is in effect from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 6 p.m. Thursday.

According to the forecast, this "dangerous winter storm" is expected to dump 6-12 inches of snow on our area by Thursday morning. But that's just part of what this storm has in store.

Rain and snow is expected to arrive in Iowa Wednesday afternoon, becoming all snow Wednesday night and ending Thursday. According to the National Weather Service, very strong northwest winds – gusting up to 45 mph – will produce consideral blowing and drifting of snow and near blizzard conditions late Wednesday night into Thursday.

Iowa road conditions will be hazardous across large portions of the state.

Although snow will likely stop into Thursday night, winds could still make travel tricky with up to 30 mph gusts in the forecast.