Winter wrapped Iowa in a heavy white blanket of snow, and it's not going anywhere any time soon. In fact, more is on the way.

After "intense snowfall overnight," more snow is expected to fall Sunday and again around the middle of the week for much of Iowa, Cory Martin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Des Moines, said Sunday morning.

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More than 9 inches of snow piled up across central and southwest Iowa overnight into Sunday, with most of the Des Moines area reporting 7 to 8 inches and Atlantic reporting 10, Martin said.

The weather service advised motorists to avoid travel Sunday morning because of slick road conditions across much of the state.

Most roads heading into the Des Moines metro area were completely covered in snow as of 8:15 a.m. Sunday, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation's road conditions map. The morning driving outlook for the entire western side of the state looked just as bleak.

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Sunday could see a high of 24 and low of 16 in Des Moines overnight with a 50 percent chance of more fresh powder early Monday morning, the weather service predicts.

Even more snow could come Tuesday and Wednesday, said Martin, who predicted central Iowa could see another 4 to 6 inches mid-week.

"It's a very active pattern we're stuck in right now," Martin said. "It looks like winter isn't going to go away quietly. We're just going to have to grin and bear it."

Anna Spoerre is a news reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her at aspoerre@registermedia.com or 515-284-8387.

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