textproduct: Central Illinois

KEY MESSAGES

- Strong northwesterly winds gusting 40-50 mph will accompany scattered rain and snow showers this morning. - Snow will spread across much of central Illinois Thursday afternoon through Thursday night. There is a 50-80% chance for greater than 2 inches of snow along and northeast of a Macomb to Robinson line.

- Another surge of very cold air is expected by the end of the week...resulting in sub-zero apparent temperatures Friday night through Monday morning.

..Bitterly Cold Conditions This Weekend

As has been advertised for the past several days, another surge of extremely cold air will arrive this weekend. A short-wave trough interacting with the baroclinic zone will bring another round of light snow to central Illinois on Saturday: however, it is still too early to pinpoint exact accumulations. The main weather story will be the sharply colder conditions after FROPA. High temperatures will drop from the 30s on Friday into the single digits and teens by Sunday. While wind-chill values will dip below zero across parts of the area by late Friday night, the coldest period will be Saturday night into Sunday when apparent temperatures will approach or exceed the -15F advisory criteria everywhere north of I-70. The extreme cold will begin to ease by Monday as boundary layer flow becomes S/SW and afternoon temperatures rise back well into the 20s and perhaps lower 30s in some spots.

Barnes

AVIATION

(For the 18z TAFs through 18z Thursday Afternoon) Issued at 1153 AM CST Wed Dec 10 2025

MVFR cloud conditions will continue for the balance of the next 18 hours of the TAF period. A band of snow showers will depart to the east of the terminal sites by 20z, with CMI the remaining site to get the snow band. However, radar returns have shown a weakening trend for the snowfall bands and vis drops will likely remain above IFR. A few flurries possible out of the MVFR deck this afternoon. Otherwise, gusty winds will be the main concern this afternoon, with W-NW gusts to 30 KT lingering but diminishing as evening approaches. NAM/HRRR forecast soundings continue to show the MVFR cloud deck persisting through Thursday morning. Winds speeds by mid-evening should drop to 12kt or less after 03z/04z, so we kept that trend going. Ceilings tomorrow morning are projected to increase to VFR before the end of this TAF period. Shimon

ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

Wind Advisory until noon CST today for ILZ027>031-036>038- 040>045-047>056-061-062-066.