WATERLOO - A snowstorm was expected to drop 3 to 5 inches on the area today, National Weather Service officials said.

The storm will begin around midday and continue into the evening hours, said Ben Moyer, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"It looks like we're going to see nice, dry fluffy snowfall," Moyer said.

Highs today will be about 10 degrees.

The snowfall came after a sudden drop in temperature and strong subzero windchills Sunday and Monday.

The temperature Monday afternoon nearly dipped to just 2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Some weren't prepared for the sudden drop in temperature. The Black Hawk County Health Department reportee a dozen Waterloo school students treated for exposure, apparently while walking to school or waiting for the bus.

"At least one was going to the hospital to be treated," County Health Director Tom O'Rourke said. "Others had been sent home. Their parents were called. We're speculating that with an abrupt drop in the weather, I don't think parents realized how cold it had gotten from Sunday to Monday."

Waterloo school nurses working for the Health Department reported the exposure incidents, O'Rourke said. School officials immediately issued an advisory to parents to make sure student were approrpriately dressed for the conditions.

Waterloo Water Works is encouraging customers to frequently check their water temperature to avoid frozen pipes, leading to expensive thawing work or repairs.

Deep frost penetration increases the possibility of a frozen service line, which extends underground from the water main in the street into the home and is the property owner's responsibility.

Hold a common outdoor thermometer under a running cold water faucet. If the water temperature registers below 40 degrees, it is suggested a small stream of cold water be kept running inside the home at all times.

Inside water pipes, adjacent to the outside walls, should also be protected to prevent freezing. For more information, call Waterloo Water Works at 232-6280.

Cedar Valley firefighters have also been especially alert to the subfreezing temperatures and dangerous wind chills.

Cedar Falls Fire Rescue was called to Midway Carwash, 3717 Midway Drive, midmorning Monday to free a woman stuck in a stall. It didn't take long for a couple of responders to lift the door open.

"I really don't know if that was weather-related as much as a mechanical malfunction in the door itself of the car wash," said Mike Buhrow with the Cedar Falls squad. "Other than she was cold."

If a more serious situation arises, staff is ready to monitor fellow firefighters' conditions for symptoms of cold exposure, Buhrow said. Medics are always dispatched to house fires and will stay on scene as long as possible to rehabilitate firefighters, like with heaters in the back of an ambulance.

"When you play with water and get wet, you're going to get cold a lot faster, so frostbite, things like that, we've got to watch for very closely," he added.

Capt. Steve Weliver with Waterloo Fire Rescue echoed Buhrow's comments. Wearing extra layers and other protection is common sense, although some situations can't be planned, Weliver said.

"There's always going to be that water there, and it freezes quick," Weliver said. "We have had accidents in the past with guys pulling hose and losing their footing and falling and becoming injured."

Temperatures the rest of the week will remain well below normal, Moyer of the National Weather Service said. Another storm system will move in late Thursday.

"This one is going to be a little messier," he said. "We're looking at a range of precipitation types from snow to freezing rain and sleet possible."

As of Monday afternoon, officials at Allen Hospital and Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo had not treated anyone for weather-related exposure.

Contact Tina Hinz at (319) 291-1484 or tina.hinz@wcfcourier.com.