Snow and rain totals for ZIP code 51242

Lester, IA

NOAA's National Snowfall Analysis shows no measurable snow at ZIP code 51242 (Lester, IA) so far this season (since October 1, 2026, through November 7, 2026). Last season (2025–26) it estimated 27.4 inches in all; the biggest day was 5.0 inches on December 7, 2025. Over the last 30 days, NOAA's MRMS analysis estimates 4.68 inches of rain and melted snow.

Pin: the Census center point of ZIP Code Tabulation Area 51242, in Lyon County. Values are NOAA estimates for the grid cell under the pin. Iowa snowfall totals.

Last 14 days

Snow by season

Biggest snow days since October 2025

Rain and melted snow by month

Wettest days since October 2025

Spotter snow reports near 51242

12 measured snowfall reports within 10 miles since October 2025, on 8 days. The largest was 8.3 inches at Rock Rapids, IA (8.4 miles away), reported to NWS FSD for November 30, 2025. Below: the largest report each day, next to NOAA's 24-hour estimate for 51242.

Spotter reports: National Weather Service Local Storm Reports (LSRs): measurements sent to NWS offices by trained storm spotters, CoCoRaHS and co-op observers, NWS staff, the public and others, archived by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (Iowa State University). Reports are what each observer measured at one spot, often a storm total so far, and the NWS doesn't quality-check every one. Exact repeats count once.

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Sources

Snow: NOAA National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC), National Snowfall Analysis (version 2.1), 24-hour totals on a 0.04° grid (about 4 km). NOHRSC builds it from NWS, CoCoRaHS and other snowfall reports, radar and gauge precipitation (Stage IV) and model snow-to-liquid ratios. Rain: NOAA MRMS multi-sensor 24-hour precipitation (radar adjusted to rain gauges, about 1 km), from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet archive; it is total liquid, so it includes melted snow and sleet. Places: US Census Bureau ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (2024 Gazetteer internal points) and city centers. Each value is the estimate for the grid cell that contains the ZIP code's or city's center point, not a measurement at your house. NOAA reruns recent analyses as late reports arrive, so the last few days can change slightly. These are our own summaries of public NOAA data; NOAA has not reviewed them.