A warm front lifted northward through central Illinois during the overnight hours of December 7th into the early morning of December 8th. Light freezing rain accompanied the front, creating icy roads and numerous traffic accidents across the area.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS ILX wrote it up.
A warm front lifted northward through central Illinois during the overnight hours of December 7th into the early morning of December 8th. Light freezing rain accompanied the front, creating icy roads and numerous traffic accidents across the area.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Lincoln, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 7, 11:52 PM CST, 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1152 PM CST SUN DEC 7 2008 .DISCUSSION... ISSUED 852 PM CST SUN DEC 7 2008 CHALLENGE OF THE EVENING IS ON WHETHER PRECIP WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT...AND IF IT DOES...HOW MUCH FREEZING RAIN/ICING WILL OCCUR. WIND PROFILERS UPSTREAM SHOW A MARKED INCREASE IN LOW LEVEL WINDS...WITH A TEXTBOOK WAA PROFILE WITH HEIGHT. 40-45 KTS OF WIND AT 925-850MB INDICATE THE LLJ HAS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY. SO LIFT IS DEFINITELY BEING GENERATED IN THE FRONTOGENETICAL FORCING. NOW THE QUESTION IS THE MOISTURE CONTENT IN THE STRONGEST OMEGA LAYER OVERNIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING. PLENTY OF DRY AIR HERE AND UPSTREAM WAS APPARENT IN THE 00Z BALLOON LAUNCHES AT ILX AND SGF MO. 80+PCT RH WAS NOT SEEN UNTIL 700MB OR 10K FT. CLOUD LAYERS APPROACHING ARE FOLLOWING SUIT WITH OBS SHOWING 11-12K FT CLOUD HTS. A FEW SPOTS OF 8.5K FT ARE DEVELOPING IN FAR NW MO...SO SOME LOWERING OF THE LAYER IS APPARENT. THE LATEST FORECAST SOUNDINGS FROM RUC AND THE 00Z NAM SHOW TOO MUCH DRY AIR FOR PRECIP TO REACH THE GROUND. EVEN WITH THAT BEING SAID...STILL NOT COMFORTABLE WITH PULLING OUT THE MENTION OF FZRA/SN FOR AFTER MIDNIGHT. BUFKIT PRECIP TYPE ANALYSIS SHOWING MORE OF A FZRA/SLEET COMBO POSSIBLE INSTEAD OF FZRA/SN...SO I CHANGED THE WX GRID TO CHC OF FZRA/SLEET. EITHER WAY...THE FREEZING RAIN IS THE BIGGEST CONCERN FOR POSSIBLE HAZARDOUS TRAVEL. IF MORE QPF WERE POSSIBLE...A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MIGHT BE IN ORDER...BUT CONFIDENCE IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH FOR THE PRECIP ACCUM NEEDED TO CAUSE PROBLEMS. OVERALL...THE CHANGES MADE TO THE GRIDS FOR TONIGHT WERE TO THE WX PRECIP TYPE...WINDS AND CLOUDS. WINDS AND GUSTS WERE INCREASED A BIT. TEMPS APPEARED OK. UPDATED GRIDS AND ZONES WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY. SHIMON && .AVIATION... ISSUED 1152 PM CST SUN DEC 7 2008...FOR THE 06Z TAFS MID LEVEL WAA IS CREATING LIFT ACROSS THE SW HALF OF OUR CWA ALREADY. RADAR RETURNS ARE ALREADY SHOWING UP WITH 20-25 DBZ REFL. INITIAL TEMP PROFILES SEEM LIKE WE MAY SEE A FEW FLAKES OF SNOW INSTEAD OF FZRA AT THE ONSET. CLOUD DECKS ARE STILL AT 10K FT...AND OBSERVATIONS UPSTREAM REMAIN CONSISTENT WITH THAT CLOUD LVL. NWS LSX INDICATED SPRINKLES FROM 25 DBZ RADAR RETURNS...SO AS THE WARM LAYER DEEPENS OVER OUR CWA...WE MAY SEE FLAKES OF SNOW CHANGE TO DROPS OF FZRA. SURFACE TEMPS WILL REMAIN IN THE 20S TONIGHT...SO THE WARM LAYER WOULD MOST LIKELY PRODUCE FZRA INTO THE SHALLOW COLD AIR. THE NEW NAM IS GOING DRY TONIGHT AND TOMORROW MORNING...WHILE THE GFS IS DROPPING AROUND 0.1 INCHES OF WATER. WILL KEEP 2HR TEMPOS FOR FZRA IN THE SPI/DEC/CMI TAFS...WITH JUST VCSH IN THE PIA/BMI TAFS. REMOVED THE MVFR CIGS...AS THE LOWER MOISTURE SEEMS LIMITED. NEXT ISSUES ARE INCREASING WINDS MONDAY EVENING AND ONSET OF RAIN. BEST CHANCES WILL BE AFTER 06Z MONDAY NIGHT...BUT WILL INTRODUCE SOME VCSH AND 5K FT DECKS AT MOST SITES BY 04-05Z MONDAY EVE. SOUTH WINDS WILL GUST TO 25 KTS AT TIMES DURING THE EVENING. SHIMON && .PREV DISCUSSION... ISSUED 246 PM CST SUN DEC 7 2008 LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS HAD A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE EXTENDING FROM THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY INTO THE OHIO VALLEY. MEANWHILE... UPSTREAM...A COMPLEX STORM SYSTEM WAS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP OVER THE PLAINS. THE VARIOUS PHASES OF THIS EVOLVING STORM SYSTEM THAT IMPACT THE FORECAST AREA FROM TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT ARE THE PRIMARY FORECAST CONCERNS OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. 12Z MODELS IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT WITH MOST FEATURES EXPECTED TO IMPACT FORECAST AREA OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. HOWEVER...THERE ARE STRENGTH/TIMING DIFFERENCES WITH THE STORM SYSTEM AS THE MAIN LOW PASSES THROUGH THE VICINITY OF THE FORECAST AREA TUESDAY/TUESDAY NIGHT. THESE DIFFERENCES WILL DETERMINE HOW QUICKLY THE PRECIPITATION CHANGES TO SNOW AS THE SYSTEM PULLS AWAY. HAVE TRENDED THE FORECAST MORE TOWARD THE CURRENT NAM/ECMWF/SREF SOLUTIONS WHICH WOULD START THE CHANGE OVER TO SNOW FROM WEST TO EAST TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THE GFS WOULD KEEP ALL RAIN GOING THROUGH THE DAY TUESDAY. GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES SHOWING SOME SPREAD...ESPECIALLY AS YOU GO OUT IN TIME. HAVE TENDED TO GO WITH A BLEND OF TEMPERATURES BUT SHIED AWAY SOMEWHAT FROM THE GFS BASED MAV. SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY... TONIGHT AND MONDAY...WHILE THIS PERIOD SHOULD BE RATHER QUIET FOR THE MOST PART...WITH THE MAIN ENERGY WITH THE DEVELOPING SYSTEM STILL FAR TO OUR WEST...IT WILL NOT BE WITHOUT POTENTIAL FORECAST PROBLEMS. A WARM FRONT BEGINNING TO EVOLVE TO OUR WEST THIS AFTERNOON...ALREADY NOTICEABLE IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS AND MISSOURI ON THE SURFACE CHART AND IN THE COOLING SATELLITE CLOUD TOPS...WILL CROSS THE FORECAST AREA OVERNIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING. STRONG WAA/ISENTROPIC ASCENT AND MODEST MID LEVEL FRONTOGENESIS WITH THIS FEATURE SHOULD BE ABLE TO PRODUCE SOME PRECIPITATION AS IT LIFTS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA DESPITE AN INITIALLY DRY AIRMASS. FORECAST SOUNDING PROFILES SUPPORT SNOW AT THE ONSET...BUT ENOUGH OF AN ELEVATED WARM LAYER WILL DEVELOP TO SUPPORT FREEZING RAIN. THE FREEZING RAIN THREAT WILL LINGER UNTIL SURFACE TEMPERATURES RISE ABOVE FREEZING MONDAY AND/OR THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY SHIFTS INTO NORTHERN ILLINOIS. CONSIDERED PUTTING A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY OUT FOR THE THREAT OF LIGHT ICING...BUT DO NOT FEEL THE FREEZING RAIN WILL BE HEAVY OR WIDESPREAD ENOUGH TO WARRANT A HEADLINE AT THIS TIME. THE PRECIPITATION THREAT SHOULD LARGELY END BY MIDDAY MONDAY AS THE FRONTAL ZONE SHIFTS NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA. MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...ONCE SURFACE TEMPERATURES RISE ABOVE FREEZING ON MONDAY...THEY ARE NOT EXPECTED TO DROP BELOW FREEZING UNTIL LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON OR EVENING. THIS FACT... COMBINED WITH WARM TEMPERATURES ALOFT...KEEPS THE MAJORITY OF OUR PRECIPITATION THREAT IN THE FORM OF RAIN. THE MAIN SYSTEM...AS IT APPROACHES MONDAY NIGHT AND PASSES BY TUESDAY...SHOULD BE A GOOD RAIN PRODUCER. A PROLONGED PERIOD OF STRONG MOIST ISENTROPIC ASCENT INTO TUESDAY...ALONG WITH THE PASSAGE OF A COUPLED JET STRUCTURE LATER MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY...WILL KEEP GOOD MOISTURE AND FORCING IN PLACE. AS MENTIONED ABOVE...THE MODELS ARE NOT IN STRONG AGREEMENT ON THE PRECIPITATION CHANGE OVER TO SNOW LATER TUESDAY INTO TUESDAY NIGHT AS THE COLDER AIR SURGES IN BEHIND THE DEPARTING SYSTEM. AT THIS POINT...THE SNOW THREAT FOR US DOES NOT LOOK TOO SIGNIFICANT. THE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO SHUT OFF RATHER QUICKLY BEHIND THE FRONT AND THE WRAP AROUND/DEFORMATION ZONE IS EXPECTED TO LARGELY STAY TO OUR WEST AND NORTH. SO...WITH THIS IN MIND...HAVE QUICKLY LOWERED PRECIPITATION CHANCES TUESDAY NIGHT. WEDNESDAY...QUIET AND COOLER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO RETURN TO THE REGION AS CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE AND NEUTRAL FLOW ALOFT BUILD INTO THE REGION. LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...MODELS/ENSEMBLES CONTINUE TO HAVE A FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF SPREAD BEYOND THURSDAY...WHICH LIMITS CONFIDENCE IN THE EXTENDED RANGE OF THE FORECAST. WITH NO STRONG/PERSISTENT SIGNALS FOR PRECIPITATION DURING THE PERIOD...THE PRIMARY FORECAST CONCERN FOR THE END OF THE WEEK AND WEEKEND REVOLVES AROUND TEMPERATURES. THE MODEL CONSENSUS IS STILL SUGGESTS MILDER CONDITIONS THAN WERE EXPECTED SEVERAL DAYS AGO...BUT THE LATEST SOLUTIONS ARE NOT QUITE AS WARM AS YESTERDAY. SO...HAVE TRENDED TEMPERATURES DOWN A BIT...WHICH ENDS UP BEING NEAR NORMAL FOR THE MOST PART. I DID END UP ADDING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN/SNOW FOR SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY AS THERE IS A REASONABLE HINT OF A FRONTAL PASSAGE...THOUGH CONFIDENCE IN THE TIMING AND STRENGTH OF THE THE SYSTEM IS PRETTY LOW. BAK && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 309 PM CST SUN DEC 7 2008 ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-081200- CASS-CHAMPAIGN-CHRISTIAN-CLARK-CLAY-COLES-CRAWFORD-CUMBERLAND- DE WITT-DOUGLAS-EDGAR-EFFINGHAM-FULTON-JASPER-KNOX-LAWRENCE-LOGAN- MACON-MARSHALL-MASON-MCLEAN-MENARD-MORGAN-MOULTRIE-PEORIA-PIATT- RICHLAND-SANGAMON-SCHUYLER-SCOTT-SHELBY-STARK-TAZEWELL-VERMILION- WOODFORD- 309 PM CST SUN DEC 7 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A WARM FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE SOUTHWEST...LATE TONIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING. THIS WILL BRING SCATTERED LIGHT SNOW OR FREEZING RAIN AFTER MIDNIGHT...WHICH MAY PRODUCE SOME SLIPPERY DRIVING CONDITIONS FOR THE MONDAY MORNING DRIVE INTO WORK OR SCHOOL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY LINGERING PATCHES OF FREEZING RAIN SHOULD END MONDAY MORNING...AS TEMPERATURES RISE ABOVE FREEZING. A DEVELOPING STORM SYSTEM ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS LATE MONDAY WILL LIFT NORTHEAST INTO THE MIDWEST ON TUESDAY. THIS WILL SPREAD PRECIPITATION OVER THE AREA ON LATE MONDAY...CONTINUING INTO TUESDAY. MUCH OF THIS WILL BE RAIN. HOWEVER...AS THE STORM SYSTEM BEGINS TO PULL AWAY FROM THE AREA ON TUESDAY...EXPECT THE RAIN TO CHANGE OVER TO SNOW BEFORE ENDING. THIS CHANGEOVER SHOULD BEGIN WEST OF I-55 BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON...WITH AREAS CLOSER TO THE INDIANA BORDER SEEING THE SNOW BEGIN DURING THE EVENING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. && THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGIC AND CLIMATE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE WEB AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/LINCOLN. THIS ADDRESS IS ALL IN LOWER CASE. GEELHART
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
An elderly woman died in a car accident as a result of icy road conditions. The accident happened on Blue Mound Road about 5 miles south of Flora.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Weather, Clay | 2008-12-08 | 72 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, December 2008
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 143528.