Low pressure tracking from the Dakotas southeastward into the Ohio River Valley brought heavy snow to the northern third of Illinois during the evening of December 3rd into the morning of December 4th. The snow occurred primarily along and northeast of the I-74 corridor, with areas from Henry southeastward to Champaign-Urbana picking up in excess of 6 inches.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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.
Low pressure tracking from the Dakotas southeastward into the Ohio River Valley brought heavy snow to the northern third of Illinois during the evening of December 3rd into the morning of December 4th. The snow occurred primarily along and northeast of the I-74 corridor, with areas from Henry southeastward to Champaign-Urbana picking up in excess of 6 inches.
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 3, 5:46 PM CST, 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 546 PM CST FRI DEC 3 2010 .DISCUSSION... ISSUED 229 PM CST FRI DEC 3 2010 SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT TRACK OF CLIPPER SYSTEM AND WHERE THE ACCUMULATING SNOWS WILL SETUP OVERNIGHT INTO SATURDAY THE MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE. SFC LOW PRESSURE OVER NRN NEBRASKA WILL TRACK SE INTO MO BY TMRW MRNG...AND THEN SOUTH OF THE OHIO RIVER DURING THE DAY. LOW LEVEL WARM ADVECTION AHEAD OF THE WAVE HAS PRODUCED AN AREA OF LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW ACRS SRN MN INTO NRN IOWA...WHICH WAS SHIFTING SE. EXPECT THE SNOW TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE ACRS OUR NW THIS EVENING AND THEN SPREAD SE ACRS ABOUT THE NE HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA OVERNIGHT INTO SATURDAY. FORECAST SOUNDINGS STILL NOT SHOWING A REAL IMPRESSIVE OR PERSISTENT SNOW GROWTH REGION WHEN THE BEST LIFT MOVES ACRS THE FORECAST AREA LATE TNT AND ESP SATURDAY MRNG. THE NAM-WRF HAS SHIFTED A BIT FURTHER SOUTH WITH THE VORT AND MAIN SNOW AXIS BUT AM INCLINED TO FOLLOW THE MORE CONSISTENT ECMWF ECMWF...WHICH KEEPS THE SHEARED VORT AND HEAVIEST SNOWS JUST TO OUR NORTH... CLOSER TO THE I-80 CORRIDOR. STILL THINKING ABOUT 1 TO 3 INCHES WITH THE HEAVIER AMOUNTS NORTH OF A PARIS TO CANTON LINE. MAY SEE SOME ISOLD 4 INCH AMOUNTS CLOSE TO LACON AND WYOMING EAST TO JUST NORTH OF CHAMPAIGN AND RANTOUL BY SATURDAY AFTN. AS THE SFC WAVE AND UPPER SUPPORT SHIFTS WELL TO OUR SOUTH SATURDAY AFTN...LOOK FOR THE SNOW TO TAPER OFF TO FLURRIES FROM NW TO SE WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY OF ADDL ACCUMULATIONS. CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN SETTLE OVER THE REGION FOR THE REST OF THE WEEKEND BRINGING DRY AND UNSEASONABLY COLD WEATHER TO THE REGION. OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPS BY MONDAY MRNG MAY DIP INTO THE SINGLE DIGITS...ESPECIALLY ACRS THE NORTH WHERE THERE WILL BE A LIGHT SNOW COVER. LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY STRONG NEGATIVE NAO/AO PATTERN TO PRODUCE BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGH A GOOD PORTION OF THE NEW WORK WEEK. WE MAY SEE SOME TEMPORARY MODIFICATION IN THE NUMBERS AFTER WED AS HEIGHTS INCREASE ACRS THE MIDWEST...BUT ENSEMBLES SUGGEST THE UPPER FLOW WILL BECOME NWLY AGAIN TWDS NEXT WEEKEND WITH THE LATEST ECMWF SHOWING A -18C AT 850 MB LATE SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY. AS FAR AS PRECIP IS CONCERNED...NOT SEEING ANY STRONG SIGNALS FOR ANYTHING SIGNIFICANT DURING THIS FCST PERIOD. A WEAK FRONT WILL PUSH ACRS THE AREA LATE THU OR FRIDAY...BUT MOISTURE AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE LOOKS LIMITED AT BEST. MODELS WERE INDICATING A SECONDARY WAVE OF LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE UP THE FRONT AS IT SHIFTS WELL EAST OF THE AREA FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY...WITH THE ECMWF INDICATING A LARGE AREA OF PRECIP ASSOCIATED WITH THE SRN STREAM SYSTEM. ENSEMBLES SUGGEST THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL STAY SOUTH OF OUR AREA...BUT WILL NEED TO BE WATCHED. SMITH && .AVIATION... ISSUED 546 PM CST FRI DEC 3 2010 SNOWS HAVE BROKEN OUT ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS IN ADVANCE OF AN APPROACHING CLIPPER SYSTEM. THIS FIRST BAND OF SNOW HAS ALREADY IMPACTED KPIA AND KBMI...AND SHOULD IMPACT KCMI SHORTLY. KSPI SHOULD MISS THE FIRST ROUND OF SNOW AND KDEC WILL BE ON THE BORDERLINE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. UNDER THE HEAVIER BANDS OF SNOW...CIGS/VSBYS WILL BRIEFLY BE REDUCED TO LOW END MVFR OR IFR CONDITIONS. THIS INITIAL AREA OF SNOW IS EXPECTED TO SHIFT NORTH/EAST OF THE TERMINALS IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS...WITH DRY/VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED FOR MUCH OF THE NIGHT. THE NEXT ROUND OF SNOW AS THE CENTER OF THE CLIPPER PASSES BY WILL IMPACT THE AREA FROM SATURDAY MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON. THESE SNOWS WILL PRODUCE MORE WIDESPREAD IFR CONDITIONS THAN THIS EVENING. WINDS WILL PREDOMINANTLY BE EAST OR SOUTHEAST AOB 10 KTS TONIGHT. THEY WILL GRADUALLY BACK NORTHERLY AS THE CLIPPER PASSES BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. WIND SPEEDS WILL ALSO PICK UP IN THE WAKE OF THE CLIPPER. BAK && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 PM CST SATURDAY FOR ILZ027>031-037-038. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 PM CST SATURDAY FOR ILZ043>046-055>057. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 318 PM CST FRI DEC 3 2010 ILZ027>031-037-038-041200- KNOX-MARSHALL-MCLEAN-PEORIA-STARK-TAZEWELL-WOODFORD- 318 PM CST FRI DEC 3 2010 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 6 PM CST SATURDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS...MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF THE I-74 CORRIDOR. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SNOW WILL BEGIN SPREADING ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING...AND CONTINUE OVERNIGHT. ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE LIKELY BY SUNRISE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF SATURDAY BEFORE ENDING IN THE AFTERNOON. TOTAL STORM ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 INCHES OR MORE ARE LIKELY ALONG AND NORTH OF THE I-74 CORRIDOR. A SURGE OF COLD AIR BEHIND THIS SYSTEM WILL RESULT IN WIND CHILLS FALLING BELOW ZERO...EACH NIGHT FROM SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED. HOWEVER...SNOWFALL REPORTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. ILZ036-040>042-047>054-061-041200- CASS-CHRISTIAN-FULTON-LOGAN-MACON-MASON-MENARD-MORGAN-MOULTRIE- SANGAMON-SCHUYLER-SCOTT-SHELBY- 318 PM CST FRI DEC 3 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT LIGHT SNOW WILL BEGIN SPREADING OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS THIS EVENING...THEN BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD AFTER MIDNIGHT. AREAS AROUND JACKSONVILLE AND SPRINGFIELD MAY SEE SOME SLEET OR RAIN MIXED IN AT TIMES. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS UP TO AN INCH ARE LIKELY...FROM CANTON SOUTHEAST TO AROUND DECATUR. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF SATURDAY...MIXED AT TIMES WITH RAIN...BEFORE ENDING IN THE AFTERNOON. TOTAL STORM ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE LIKELY FROM CANTON SOUTHEAST TO DECATUR... RANGING TO LESS THAN A HALF INCH AROUND JACKSONVILLE. A SURGE OF COLD AIR BEHIND THIS SYSTEM WILL RESULT IN WIND CHILLS FALLING TO NEAR ZERO...EACH NIGHT FROM SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED. HOWEVER...SNOWFALL REPORTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. ILZ043>046-055>057-041200- CHAMPAIGN-COLES-DE WITT-DOUGLAS-EDGAR-PIATT-VERMILION- 318 PM CST FRI DEC 3 2010 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 PM CST SATURDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SNOW WILL BEGIN SPREADING ACROSS THE AREA LATE THIS EVENING... BECOMING MORE WIDESPREAD AFTER MIDNIGHT. ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ARE LIKELY BY SUNRISE...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF THE I-74 CORRIDOR. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF SATURDAY...BEFORE ENDING LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. TOTAL STORM ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 INCHES OR MORE ARE LIKELY ALONG AND NORTH OF I-74...WITH 1 TO 2 INCHES FURTHER SOUTH AROUND PARIS AND MATTOON. A SURGE OF COLD AIR BEHIND THIS SYSTEM WILL RESULT IN WIND CHILLS FALLING TO NEAR ZERO...EACH NIGHT FROM SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED. HOWEVER...SNOWFALL REPORTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. ILZ062-063-066>068-071>073-041200- CLARK-CLAY-CRAWFORD-CUMBERLAND-EFFINGHAM-JASPER-LAWRENCE-RICHLAND- 318 PM CST FRI DEC 3 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SNOW IS LIKELY TO DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT...MIXED AT TIMES WITH SOME RAIN. HOWEVER...OVERNIGHT ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD BE LESS THAN A HALF INCH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND SNOW WILL CONTINUE MUCH OF SATURDAY...BEFORE TAPERING IN THE AFTERNOON. WHILE MOST AREAS WILL ONLY SEE MINOR ACCUMULATIONS...SOME 1 TO 2 INCH AMOUNTS WILL BE POSSIBLE TOWARD MARSHALL AND POINTS NORTHWARD. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED. HOWEVER...SNOWFALL REPORTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. && 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.
5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous weather observers measured 6 to 8 inches of snow across Marshall County.
Numerous weather observers measured over 6 inches of snow across McLean County.
Numerous weather observers measured 6 to 9 inches of snow across Woodford County.
Numerous weather observers measured over 6 inches of snow across Champaign County. The highest reported snow totals were around 9 inches from Champaign to near Homer.
Numerous weather observers measured over 6 inches of snow across Vermilion County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, December 2010
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: 267234, 267235, 267238, 267233, 267236.