This week’s winter blast a reminder to have your car prepared for winter

MASON CITY — Now that we’ve had our first blast of wintry weather earlier this week, now is the time to check over your vehicle to make sure it’s ready for the rest of the season.

Pete Hjelmstad with the Iowa Department of Transportation says there’s several simple things you can do to make sure your vehicle is prepared.  “Make sure you’ve got the tires ready. Make sure you’ve got the winter survival kit. Make sure you check your battery. That’s a big issue for many people, they didn’t get their battery checked. When you get a couple of cold days, all of a sudden you realize that your battery is not as good as you thought it was. It’s a good opportunity to get some of that stuff done.”

Snow showers on Wednesday night caused a number of accidents with tow bans being put in place in Cerro Gordo and Worth counties.