Cold conditions across central Illinois led to the death of a homeless man in Champaign-Urbana. Early morning low temperatures on January 8th dipped into the teens, while wind-chill readings hovered around zero.
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.
Cold conditions across central Illinois led to the death of a homeless man in Champaign-Urbana. Early morning low temperatures on January 8th dipped into the teens, while wind-chill readings hovered around zero.
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 7, 11:15 PM CST, 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1115 PM CST WED JAN 7 2009 .DISCUSSION... ISSUED 900 PM CST WED JAN 7 2009 FINAL SHORT WAVE MOVING THROUGH CWA TONIGHT AND SHOULD BE IN ONLY EAST AND SOUTHEAST AREAS TIL MIDNIGHT. THEN FLURRIES STILL POSSIBLE AFTER MIDNIGHT IN SAME AREA. AS SHORT WAVE LEAVES SO TOO ARE THE CLOUDS. STILL SOME LOWER CLOUDS NORTH OF THE AREA THAT COULD ROTATE INTO NORTHERN PORTIONS OF CWA...BUT LOOKS LIKE A PARTLY CLOUDY SKY OVERALL. TEMP AND WINDS LOOK FINE. SO WILL BE UPDATING FOR SKY COVER...POPS AND WX. UPDATE TO BE FORTHCOMING SHORTLY. AUTEN && .AVIATION... ISSUED 1115 PM CST WED JAN 7 2009 CLOUDS HAVE MOVED EAST OF PIA...BMI AND SPI AND SHOULD BE EAST OF DEC AND CMI AT BEGINNING OF TAF START TIME. HOWEVER...THERE IS SOME PATCHES OF LOW CLOUDS ACROSS EASTERN IOWA MOVING INTO NWRN IL. THESE CLOUDS COULD AFFECT PIA AND BMI SITES BASED ON SAT LOOPS. CURRENT SAT PIC INDICATES CLOUD COVER SHOULD BE MAINLY SCT AND REACH THE PIA ABOUT 8Z...THEN BMI ABOUT 9Z. WILL ALSO ADD AT THE OTHER SITES ABOUT 10Z. MODEL DATA INDICATES CLOUDS SHOULD BE GONE BETWEEN 12 AND 15Z...FOLLOWED BY MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES DURING THE DAY. COULD HAVE SOME CIRRUS MOVING INTO THE AREA TOMORROW EVENING. NORTHWEST WINDS WILL BECOME LIGHT TOMORROW AS THE HI PRSS RIDGE MOVES OVER THE AREA...THEN BECOME LIGHT AND VARIABLE TOMORROW EVENING. AUTEN && .PREV DISCUSSION... ISSUED 230 PM CST WED JAN 7 2009 FORECAST PROBLEMS FOR TODAY FIRST INVOLVED PCPN TONIGHT IN COLD AIR ADVECTION PATTERN...THEN COLD FRONT TO MOVE THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. SECOND FRONT TO MOVE THROUGH ON SUNDAY NIGHT...WITH ARCTIC FRONT ON TUESDAY MORNING. SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. MORNING UPPER AIR DATA SHOWED SIGNIFICANT WEAK MINOR SHORT WAVE FEATURES MOVING THROUGH THE UPPER TROUGH OVER IL AREA. GOOD COLD AIR ADVECTION PRODUCING LIGHT SNOWSHOWERS OVER REGION DURING DAY. IR SATELLITE IMAGERY MATCHES UP VERY WELL WITH VORT ADVECTION PATTERN IN 12Z NAM AND GFS RUNS FOR TONIGHT...WITH ONE TROUGH MOVING THROUGH AREA TODAY AND A 2ND ONE OVER IA TO MOVE OVER TONIGHT. MODELS ALSO SHOW CONTINUED 850MB COLD ADVECTION. THEREFORE LOOKS TO BE CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW IN THE EVENING...TAPERING OFF AFTER MIDNIGHT. 12Z NAM...GFS...AND EUR MODELS ALL HAVE THE NEXT FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE REGION FRIDAY NIGHT. THE SPEED OF THE NAM MIGHT BE THE BEST COMPROMISE. LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE 12Z GFS MODEL MATCHES UP WITH THE LATEST EUR THROUGH 12Z ON TUES...THEN THE PROBLEMS WITH MODELS OCCUR. EUR BLAST OF COLD AIR BEHIND ARCTIC FRONT SEEMS REASONABLE...FOR TUESDAY TO WEDNESDAY NIGHT. NEXT FRONT ON SUNDAY NIGHT TO EARLY MONDAY MOVES THROUGH AND WITH STRONG COLD ADVECTION BEHIND THE FRONT...ADDED 20 POP FOR LIGHT SNOW MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT. ARCTIC FRONT MOVES THROUGH REGION TUESDAY MORNING AND AT THIS TIME...KEPT GRIDS DRY DUE TO AVAILABLE MOISTURE. AS MENTIONED EARLIER...DID LOWER TEMPS. WIND CHILLS WILL BE A CONCERN WITH THIS SYSTEM. GOETSCH && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 300 PM CST WED JAN 7 2009 ILZ029>031-036-037-040-041-047-049-050-081200- CASS-FULTON-MARSHALL-MASON-MORGAN-PEORIA-SCHUYLER-SCOTT-TAZEWELL- WOODFORD- 300 PM CST WED JAN 7 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE ILLINOIS RIVER VALLEY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THE ILLINOIS RIVER WILL REMAIN IN FLOOD FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. FROM HENRY DOWNSTREAM TO BEARDSTOWN...A SLOW FALL IS FORECAST. TO THE SOUTH OF BEARDSTOWN...THE RIVER IS EXPECTED TO CREST TODAY THEN BEGIN A SLOW FALL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. ILZ063-068-073-081200- CLARK-CRAWFORD-LAWRENCE- 300 PM CST WED JAN 7 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR AREAS ALONG THE WABASH RIVER. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THE WABASH RIVER IS FORECAST TO FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. ILZ027-028-038-042>046-048-051>057-061-062-066-067-071-072-081200- CHAMPAIGN-CHRISTIAN-CLAY-COLES-CUMBERLAND-DE WITT-DOUGLAS-EDGAR- EFFINGHAM-JASPER-KNOX-LOGAN-MACON-MCLEAN-MENARD-MOULTRIE-PIATT- RICHLAND-SANGAMON-SHELBY-STARK-VERMILION- 300 PM CST WED JAN 7 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. GEELHART
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
A homeless man was found dead in Champaign-Urbana at around 2 PM on January 8th. The coroner's office stated the man's death was due to hypothermia.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold/Wind Chill, Champaign | 2009-01-08 | 56 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
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: 149677.