Zero-to-5.5 In 24 Hours

What a difference a day makes! This was the scene at Boyson Park at the border of Cedar Rapids and Marion, Iowa around 6:15 PM, Thursday, January 12, 2012. Just 24 hours earlier the ground was dry and temperatures in the area had just started to fall from a daytime high of 50 degrees F-- just three degrees short of a record high in Cedar Rapids. Over night a storm system moved in changing the climate in dramatic fashion. The system, though not terribly wide, was held in place and back-spun from low pressure located around Lake Michigan, causing higher amounts of snowfall to accumulate here. Cedar Rapids received an official 5.5 inches of snow, but accurate measurements were made difficult by the high winds which accompanied the storm. Temperatures at this moment were around 14 degrees F. This image looks south just south of the footbridge located near Boyson Road. Running through the center of the picture is Dry Run Creek. The photo is a one-second exposure at f/7.1, 640 ISO and 18mm focal length.