textproduct: Central Illinois

KEY MESSAGES

- Above normal warmth continues through Tuesday with temperatures turning cooler Wednesday through early next week.

- A cold front will bring strong winds and a few rain and snow showers on Wednesday. Additional chances for snow come Thursday night through Saturday as a large upper trough controls the weather pattern locally.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 127 PM CST Mon Jan 12 2026

Upper analysis early this afternoon shows broad northwest flow over the area, allowing a steady stream of subtle impulses to slide through the area which has resulted in in periods of mid to high cloud cover today. At the surface, high pressure ridging is centered off to our east with southwest flow in place locally, allowing warmer air to advect northward. Mild temperatures stick around through Tuesday with highs peaking in the middle to upper 40s today and the 50s tomorrow.

Flow aloft transitions by midweek as a large upper trough noses into the Midwest, bringing the return of much cooler temperatures and occasional light precipitation chances through the weekend. A cold front will advance through the area on Wednesday, bringing scattered rain/snow showers and strong northwest winds as the pressure gradient rapidly tightens. Accumulating snow chances appear low due to an overall lack of moisture and the better forcing being positioned just to our east near the upper low. Despite this, high snow ratios may allow a quick dusting of snow to occur in east- central parts of the state roughly east of a Bloomington to Mattoon line (10-20% chance). As for winds, probabilities are high for gusts to exceed 30 mph, with a small chance they exceed 40 mph Wednesday into Wednesday evening. The strong winds paired with colder temperatures will send minimum wind chills into the single digits Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Additional chances for light snow come Thursday night into Friday and again on Saturday as several waves pivot around the main upper trough. More notably, a colder push of air arrives over the weekend with the National Blend of Models (NBM) advertising highs only in the teens to 20s, lows in the single digits, and wind chills below zero. The colder weather and active pattern looks to stick around through at least the early to middle parts of next week as northwest flow remains locked in aloft.

NMA

AVIATION

(For the 06z TAFs through 06z Tuesday Night) Issued at 1050 PM CST Mon Jan 12 2026

Low pressure will dig just north of the Great Lakes Tuesday while a trailing cold front moves across central Illinois Tuesday night. Ahead of the system, VFR conditions and a modest SSW/SW breeze will prevail across central Illinois. Gusts will pick up into the low to mid 20 kt range at times Tuesday late morning and afternoon. Winds will veer to the west and northwest Tuesday evening/night with an increase in mid level clouds but no precip expected at the terminals.

Deubelbeiss

ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.