The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory that has been put into effect for Story County until 6 p.m. Monday.

Two to four inches of snow are expected to fall Monday, with locally higher amounts possible. Forecasters expect snow to fall at a rate of one inch per hour, as a band of snow moves east Monday.

A blizzard warning has also been put into effect from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. Tuesday. Forecasters expect northeast winds of 25 to 35 mph with gusts as high as 50 mph late this afternoon.

Coupled with Monday’s snowfall and the snow that fell Friday, forecasters expect significant blowing and drifting of snow.

Poor visibility and difficult traveling conditions are expected. View weather.com for a complete local forecast.

Closings:

• The Ames Community Schools will dismiss early Monday, January 12:
• Middle School at 1:00 p.m.
• High School at 1:15 p.m.
• Elementary Schools & W-B at 1:30 p.m.
• All evening athletic and extra-curricular activities are canceled.

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Press Release — Snow Ordinance in Effect at Noon

AMES, Iowa – The weather forecast is predicting a significant accumulation of snow in the Ames area.  Based on this forecast, the City of Ames Snow Ordinance will go into effect at:

NOON on MONDAY, January 12, 2009

Snow routes are marked by new RED and WHITE signs, and cars parked on snow routes will be ticketed and towed.  All cars should be moved to off-street parking or to streets that are not designated snow routes.  It is important to remember the snow ordinance remains in effect until the streets are completely plowed from curb to curb, And it has stopped snowing.

To assist in the plowing efforts, all Ames residents are asked to remove parked cars from residential streets.  However, only those on snow routes are required to move them.