A powerful winter storm brought periods of snow to portions of central and southeast Illinois from late on January 26th through the morning of January 28th. The first wave of precipitation deposited between 2 and 4 inches of snow along and south of the I-70 corridor by the morning of January 27th.
Every event with a place to put it; 11 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 powerful winter storm brought periods of snow to portions of central and southeast Illinois from late on January 26th through the morning of January 28th. The first wave of precipitation deposited between 2 and 4 inches of snow along and south of the I-70 corridor by the morning of January 27th. The second wave brought additional heavy accumulations of snow, mainly along and south of I-72 during the evening of January 27th into the morning of the 28th. Some freezing rain and sleet mixed in with the snow along and south of a Flora to Robinson line at times, but the main impact from this system was the heavy snow. By the time the precipitation ended, between 8 and 12 inches of snow had fallen along and south of a Shelbyville to Paris line.
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 Jan 26, 5:16 PM CST, 2 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 516 PM CST MON JAN 26 2009 .DISCUSSION... ISSUED 255 PM CST MON JAN 26 2009 MAIN CONCERN REMAINS THE WINTER STORM FOR TONIGHT THROUGH TUES EVENING. MODELS ARE IN RELATIVE AGREEMENT ON THE PLACEMENT OF THE BAROCLINIC ZONE AND AREA OF ISENTROPIC LIFT FOR TONIGHT...AND ALSO AGREE ON THE TRACK OF THE SURFACE LOW FOR TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS ARKANSAS AND TENNESSEE. HOWEVER...THE NAM/GFS/UKMET ARE PULLING BACK ON SNOW TOTALS ACROSS THE AREA...WHILE THE ECMWF AND CANADIAN GEM GLOBAL ARE STILL INDICATING HIGHER AMOUNTS. SNOW RATIOS MAY BE HIGHER THAN THE MODELS WOULD INDICATE...SINCE THE ARCTIC AIR IS A BIT COLDER THAN THEY HAVE RESOLVED. OVERALL...WE TRIMMED THE SNOW TOTALS SLIGHTLY BY AN INCH OR SO...BUT KEPT THE HEADLINES UNCHANGED. WILL KEEP A WINTER STORM WARNING IN THE SE 6 COUNTIES/SOUTH OF I-70...WITH A WINTER WX ADVISORY NORTH OF THERE TO THE I-72 CORRIDOR. SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. THE RIDGE AXIS OF ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS IN PLACE FROM THE DAKOTAS TO NORTHERN IL. ALOFT A NEARLY ZONAL FLOW IS PUSHING MOISTURE UP AND OVER THE ARCTIC AIR...WHICH IS SHOWING UP ON RADAR IMAGES PRIMARILY AS VIRGA ACROSS E IOWA...N MO AND N IL. SNOW IS REACHING THE GROUND IN SW IOWA. THIS PERIOD OF VIRGA WILL EVENTUALLY TRANSITION TO STEADY SNOWFALL IN OUR CWA THIS EVENING. THE OVERRUNNING MOISTURE WILL BE ENHANCED BY ISENTROPIC LIFT TONIGHT...TO PRODUCE THE FIRST PERIOD OF SNOW WITH THIS EVENT. A LITTLE MORE THAN HALF OF SNOW IS INDICATED FOR TONIGHT IN THE HEADLINE AREAS...WITH THE REMAINDER COMING TUES AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVE. THE WARNING AREAS SHOULD SEE 2-4 INCHES TONIGHT...WITH 1-2 INCHES BETWEEN I-70 AND THE I-72 CORRIDOR...WITH LESS THAN 1 INCH N OF I-72. THE BREAK IN THE SNOWFALL WILL COME WHEN WE LOSE OUR ICE CRYSTALS ALOFT LATER TONIGHT AND TUES MORNING. DUE TO CONTINUED LIFT AND LOW MOISTURE IN PLACE...WE MAY SEE FREEZING DRIZZLE IN STEAD OF SNOW DURING THAT TIME. NOT MUCH IN THE WAY OF ICING IS EXPECTED...BUT ANY ICE WOULD COMPLICATE THE HAZARDOUS TRAVEL SITUATION. SLEET REMAINS A POSSIBILITY LATE TONIGHT AND TUE MORNING IN THE SOUTHEAST...IF WE GET ENOUGH COLLISION COALESCENCE TO PRODUCE A RAIN DROP OUT OF THE SUPERCOOLED WATER. THE COLDEST TEMP IN THE LOWER LEVELS LOOKS TO BE AROUND -10C WHICH WOULD BE ENOUGH TO FREEZE ANY DROPS THAT DEVELOP...INTO ICE PELLETS. SLEET AMOUNTS WOULD BE ON THE LOW SIDE. THIS IS REINFORCED BY FORECAST SOUNDINGS THAT SHOW A COOLER WARM LAYER THAT PREVIOUSLY INDICATED...PLUS IT IS UP AT 8K FT. SO ANY ICE CRYSTALS WOULD NOT COMPLETELY MELT WHICH IS NEEDED TO CREATE THE SLEET. WE WOULD SEE MOSTLY SNOW IN THAT SITUATION. THAT COULD HELP SNOWFALL TOTALS TO BE HIGHER. WINDS WILL BE GENERALLY LIGHT OUT OF THE NORTHEAST TONIGHT...SO BLOWING AND DRIFTING SHOULD NOT BE A MAJOR PROBLEM TONIGHT. ON TUESDAY...LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE BAROCLINIC ZONE/WARM FRONT...WHICH EXTENDS FROM N TEXAS TO EASTERN KENTUCKY/W VIRGINIA. THAT LOW SHOULD HELP PRODUCE THE DYNAMICS NEEDED FOR OUR SECOND WAVE OF SNOWFALL...WHICH IS EXPECTED TO BE HEAVIEST FROM 1 PM TUES TO AROUND 7 PM. A PERIOD OF COUPLE JET STRUCTURE BETWEEN THE N AND S JET STREAMS MAY PUT OUR AREA IN THE FAVORED REGION FOR ENHANCE UPWARD VERTICAL MOTION...WHICH WOULD ALSO WORK TO ENHANCE THE CYCLOGENESIS AS THE LOW PROGRESSES EASTWARD. BASICALLY...THESE FEATURES SHOULD PRODUCE ENOUGH LIFT TO EFFICIENTLY PRECIPITATION THE MOISTURE THAT DOES REACH THIS FAR NORTH. THE DEPTH AND STRENGTH OF THE COLD AIR APPEAR FAVORABLE FOR A SNOW RATIO OF 15:1. BASED ON THE QPF EXPECTED QPF AMOUNTS...THAT RATIO WOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR US TO REACH OUR HEADLINE TOTALS. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS IN THE WARNING AREA ON TUESDAY SHOULD BE 2-3 INCHES...WITH TOTALS OF 4-7 INCHES. IN THE ADVISORY AREA...ANOTHER 1-2 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE...WITH EVENT TOTALS OF 2-4 INCHES. LESSER AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED THE FARTHER NORTH YOU GET FROM I-70. TUESDAY EVENING...OUR SE AREAS WILL HAVE THE BEST CHANCE FOR ANY ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATION...BUT GENERALLY LESS THAN 1 INCH FOR AREAS SE OF I-70. BY MIDNIGHT...FLURRIES MAY LINGER BUT NO ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. TEMPS DURING THE EVENT WILL NOT VARY MUCH DIURNALLY. UPPER SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS FOR LOWS...WITH TEENS TO MID 20S FOR HIGHS. LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. THINGS LOOK QUIET FOR WEDNESDAY AND WED NIGHT AS A SURFACE RIDGE RETURNS TO IL FROM THE WSW. A GLANCING BLOW OF COLD AIR WILL KEEP TEMPS VERY SIMILAR TO TUES/TUES NIGHT. THE NEXT COLD FRONT IS EXPECT TO ARRIVE ON THURSDAY...WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SNOW OR FLURRIES THURS AND THURS NIGHT. A REINFORCING SHOT OF COLD AIR IS EXPECTED BEHIND THE FRONT THURS NIGHT...WHICH WILL ONCE AGAIN HELP TO KEEP TEMPS SIMILAR TO EARLY WEEK CONDITIONS THROUGH FRIDAY. WARMER AIR IS FINALLY EXPECTED TO RETURN ON SATURDAY...WHICH SHOULD PUSH TEMPERATURES ABOVE FREEZING FOR HIGHS THROUGH MONDAY. A WEAK COLD FRONT INDICATED FOR SUNDAY MAY EVEN PRODUCE SOME LIGHT RAIN... BUT CONFIDENCE IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH TO INTRODUCE THAT INTO THE FORECAST JUST YET. SHIMON && .AVIATION... ISSUED 516 PM CST MON JAN 26 2009 WINTER STORM HAS NOW EMERGED INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND WILL SPREAD SNOW NEWD INTO THE AREA THRU THIS TAF PD. PCPN WILL INITIALLY BE LGT AND CIGS ABV 3K FT BEFORE CONDITIONS DETERIORATE 06Z-14Z WED SPI-DEC-CMI. EVEN THEN...THE WX SHOULD STAY MVFR. FURTHER N NR PIA/BMI...CIGS/VSBYS WILL LIKELY REMAIN VFR THROUGH MUCH OF THE PD WITH ONLY SOME PASSING FLURRIES AND ISOLD 5SM -SN. CIGS ARE THEN EXPECTED TO BCM MVFR WITH -SN INCREASING AGAIN AFT 21Z WED. 04 && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO MIDNIGHT CST TUESDAY NIGHT FOR ILZ044>046-049>057-061>063. WINTER STORM WARNING FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO MIDNIGHT CST TUESDAY NIGHT FOR ILZ066>068-071>073. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 313 PM CST MON JAN 26 2009 ILZ027>031-036>038-040>043-047-048-271200- CASS-DE WITT-FULTON-KNOX-LOGAN-MARSHALL-MASON-MCLEAN-MENARD- PEORIA-SCHUYLER-STARK-TAZEWELL-WOODFORD- 313 PM CST MON JAN 26 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT LIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD INTO CENTRAL ILLINOIS AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. MINOR ACCUMULATIONS LESS THAN A HALF INCH ARE EXPECTED BY DAYBREAK. HOWEVER...THIS WILL CREATE SLIPPERY TRAVEL CONDITIONS ON UNTREATED ROADS ESPECIALLY SOUTH TOWARD I-72. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY PERIODS OF LIGHT SNOW WILL OCCUR DURING THE DAY TUESDAY AND INTO TUESDAY EVENING. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS UP TO 1 INCH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH UP TO 2 INCHES SOUTH TOWARD I-72. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. ILZ044>046-049>057-061>063-271200- CHAMPAIGN-CHRISTIAN-CLARK-COLES-CUMBERLAND-DOUGLAS-EDGAR-MACON- MORGAN-MOULTRIE-PIATT-SANGAMON-SCOTT-SHELBY-VERMILION- 313 PM CST MON JAN 26 2009 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO MIDNIGHT CST TUESDAY NIGHT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD INTO CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS DURING THIS EVENING...CREATING SLIPPERY TRAVEL CONDITIONS. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE ANTICIPATED BY DAYBREAK. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY PERIODS OF SNOW WILL AFFECT THE AREA TUESDAY AND DIMINISH BY MIDNIGHT TUESDAY NIGHT. BETWEEN 1 AND 2 INCHES OF SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED...FOR A STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATION OF 2 TO 4 INCHES. THE 4 INCH AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED FURTHER SOUTH ALONG I-70. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. ILZ066>068-071>073-271200- CLAY-CRAWFORD-EFFINGHAM-JASPER-LAWRENCE-RICHLAND- 313 PM CST MON JAN 26 2009 ...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO MIDNIGHT CST TUESDAY NIGHT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SNOW IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD INTO SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS DURING THIS EVENING... CREATING HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE ANTICIPATED BY DAYBREAK. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SNOW...WITH A FEW PERIODS OF SLEET...WILL AFFECT THE AREA TUESDAY AND DIMINISH BY MIDNIGHT TUESDAY NIGHT. AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED...FOR A STORM TOTAL ACCUMULATION OF 4 TO 7 INCHES. AS A RESULT...HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS WILL BE THE RULE IN SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. HUETTL
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 heavy snow, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous weather observers across Clay County reported between 10 and 12 inches of snow.
Numerous weather observers across Cumberland County reported between 9 and 10 inches of snow.
Numerous weather observers across Effingham County reported between 9 and 10 inches of snow.
Numerous weather observers across Jasper County reported between 9 and 10 inches of snow.
Numerous weather observers across Richland County reported between 10 and 12 inches of snow.
Numerous weather observers across southeastern Shelby County reported between 8 and 9 inches of snow.
Numerous weather observers across Clark County reported between 8 and 9 inches of snow.
Numerous weather observers across Crawford County reported between 10 and 12 inches of snow.
Numerous weather observers across Lawrence County reported between 10 and 12 inches of snow.
Numerous weather observers across Edgar County reported between 8 and 9 inches of snow.
Two vehicles collided on Illinois Rt 54 about one mile east of Chestnut at 5:30 AM on January 28th. One person was injured and another was pronounced dead at the scene. The accident occurred as a result of snow-covered roadways.
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, Logan | 2009-01-28 | 65 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, January 2009
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: 149728, 149731, 149733, 149734, 149736, 149737, 149729, 149730, 149735, 149732, 149738.