Illinois, 2008

Heavy Snow in Illinois, January 31, 2008

January 31, 2008 · NWS LSX · 13 events in 13 counties and zones

A winter storm dropped up to 11 inches of snow across parts of East Central Missouri and Southwest Illinois. Light snow started on Thursday by midday, 1/31/2008, and continued through the day.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 13 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
13

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS LSX wrote it up.

A winter storm dropped up to 11 inches of snow across parts of East Central Missouri and Southwest Illinois. Light snow started on Thursday by midday, 1/31/2008, and continued through the day. Amounts were light into Thursday evening, generally from two to four inches. Late Thursday night into the early morning hours Friday, 2/1/2008, heavy snow developed with snow falling at the rate of two to three inches per hour.

What forecasters said that day

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 St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 31, 10:40 AM CST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 31, 10:40 AM CST, 1 hour 20 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 31, 4:55 AM CST, 7 hours 5 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

13 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Bond

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Bond forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.887, -89.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Calhoun

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Calhoun forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
39.169, -90.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Clinton

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Clinton forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.607, -89.422 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Fayette

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Fayette forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
39.000, -89.024 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Greene

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Greene forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
39.356, -90.390 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Jersey

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Jersey forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
39.086, -90.357 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Macoupin

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Macoupin forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
39.261, -89.924 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Madison

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Madison forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.830, -89.905 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Marion

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Marion forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.650, -88.919 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Monroe

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Monroe forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.279, -90.177 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Montgomery

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
39.231, -89.479 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, St. Clair

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
St. Clair forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.470, -89.928 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Washington

When
January 31, 12:00 PM CST to 11:59 PM CST
Where
Washington forecast zone
Reported by
Trained Spotter
Coordinates
38.352, -89.410 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow
Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Illinois in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, January 2008

Sources

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: 75657, 75658, 75659, 75660, 75661, 75662, 75663, 75664, 75666, 75667, 75668, 75670, 75671.