Winter storm watch for central Illinois

Posted on December 21, 2022
A winter storm watch has been issued for all of central Illinois starting Thursday and running through late Friday night. (Graphic courtesy National Weather Service Lincoln)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – To all of you who asked for a white Christmas: Thanks a lot.

Cold, wind, and snow will belt virtually all of Downstate Thursday and Friday. Some areas could get about four inches, with a six-inch snowfall possible northeast of a line from Bloomington to Paris.

Ed Shimon, the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Lincoln, says the blowing and drifting will be so prevalent that the actual number of inches won’t matter.

“The snow is going to impact mainly Thursday afternoon and early evening, as it shifts to Eastern Illinois,” Shimon told an online briefing Tuesday afternoon. “Wind chills in the advisory and warning criteria are going to be Thursday night through Friday night. Peak wind gusts (will occur) on Friday, as the pressure across that area really tightens up quite a bit, so some significant impacts could be the blowing snow. 

“We could have somewhat of a ground blizzard kind of a condition.”

He’s talking about gusts up to 50 mph and wind chills as low as 35 below. One positive is that the system is moving so quickly it should be over by Friday night.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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