A bitterly cold airmass spilled into central Illinois behind a departing storm system on January 7th and 8th. Actual air temperatures bottomed out between 0 and -10F during the early morning of January 8th.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 bitterly cold airmass spilled into central Illinois behind a departing storm system on January 7th and 8th. Actual air temperatures bottomed out between 0 and -10F during the early morning of January 8th. Thanks to a continued northwesterly wind of 5 to 10 mph, wind-chill values dropped to between -25 and -30F along and north of a Galesburg...to Peoria...to Bloomington 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 7, 5:32 PM CST, 2 hours 28 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 532 PM CST Wed Jan 7 2015 .SHORT TERM...(Tonight) ISSUED AT 252 PM CST WED JAN 7 2015 Arctic high pressure continues to slide southeast into Missouri... with cold temperatures remaining over the CWA this afternoon into this evening. Northwest winds will stay breezy through the remainder of the afternoon...decreasing around sunset. As the high pushes southeastward...temperatures will bottom out over the northwest counties slightly after midnight and will then begin to slowly rise as winds shift to the southwest and a slightly warmer air mass enters western portions of Illinois. Meanwhile...the colder air will linger over northeastern portions of Illinois through the mid morning. Decided to lean a little more towards temperatures not going too cold overnight given the warmer 850mb temperatures moving into the area. However...with snow cover and mostly clear skies temperatures will still not have a problem dropping off overnight. Wind chills have been updated for the overnight period due to warming the minimum temperatures slightly. The warning and advisory are still in place...since wind chills will range from around -15 to -30. Some counties in the sw CWA were downgraded from a Warning to an Advisory. Otherwise...temperatures slowly warming up will allow the Warning and Advisory to expire in the tomorrow period. && .LONG TERM...(Thursday through Wednesday) ISSUED AT 252 PM CST WED JAN 7 2015 Next wave rotating through eastern North America trough is expected to approach Illinois on Thursday which should allow southwest flow to set up with resultant warm advection. By 00z Thursday Evening 850 mb temps are progged to warm 10-20C in 24 hours. However, with snow cover over northern forecast area and increasing clouds highs should remain below normal. Next surge of cold air should blast in Thursday Night and Friday behind the wave. Air behind this wave not quite as cold as the current airmass, but some readings below zero Friday Morning in snow covered areas seems like a good bet and with winds 10-20 mph progged may have to consider another wind chill advisory across the north once we make it through this ongoing cold event. Even A few flurries may be possible with wave passage, but moisture is extremely limited so do not expect any measurable snowfall. Heights begin to build late Friday as flow transitions to more zonal, temps should respond with a warming trend reaching near seasonal normals by Sunday. Latest (12z) GFS has shifted more in line with ECMWF in forecasting a southern stream wave producing precip as far north as the forecast area Sunday Night and early Monday. Earlier iterations of GFS kept moisture more limited with this system and produced precip only as far northwest as the Ohio River. Will trend a bit upward with PoPs with this system. As for precip type, GFS (12z) forecasted thermal profile suggests an area of mixed/freezing rain will be possible. For now will broadbrush given the spread in GEFS solutions and wait for event to become better delineated before being more specific. Colder air should return following the system for midweek. && .AVIATION...(For the 00Z TAFS through 00Z Thursday evening) ISSUED AT 527 PM CST WED JAN 7 2015 VFR conditions are expected thru this forecast period with MVFR cigs approaching from the northwest at or just after 00z Friday. High pressure will shift south of the area tonight bringing another very cold night to the forecast area. Any residual MVFR cig should dissipate after 00z with a mostly clear sky expected thru 09z before a band of cirrus streaks southeast into the area for the morning hours. Surface winds will diminish quickly this evening and then back into the southwest after midnight. Look for speeds to average from 5 to 10 kts after 00z. Southwest to south winds will increase in speed again tomorrow morning as the high shifts further away and low pressure tracks to our north during the afternoon. Wind speeds tomorrow will increase to between 15 and 25 kts by late morning with a few gusts up to around 30 kts possible thru the afternoon. && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND CHILL ADVISORY until Noon CST Thursday FOR ILZ036-040>042- 047>057-061>063-066>068-071>073. WIND CHILL WARNING until Noon CST Thursday FOR ILZ027>031-037- 038-043>046. && SHORT TERM...ALW LONG TERM...Barker AVIATION...Smith
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 317 PM CST WED JAN 7 2015 ILZ027>031-037-038-043>046-081200- CHAMPAIGN-DE WITT-KNOX-MARSHALL-MCLEAN-PEORIA-PIATT-STARK- TAZEWELL-VERMILION-WOODFORD- 317 PM CST WED JAN 7 2015 ...WIND CHILL WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST THURSDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT AS AN ARCTIC AIR MASS CONTINUES TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA. TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON AND THEN FALL TO BETWEEN 10 AND 15 BELOW ZERO TONIGHT. THE COMBINATION OF THE BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES AND NORTHWEST WINDS WILL CREATE WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 30 BELOW ZERO THROUGH TONIGHT. PERSONS SHOULD LIMIT THEIR TIME OUTSIDE. IF THEY MUST BE OUTSIDE...DRESS IN LAYERS AND COVER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. FROST BITE COULD OCCUR IN 30 MINUTES OR LESS ON EXPOSED SKIN. EXTENDED EXPOSURE WITHOUT PROPER CLOTHING WILL INCREASE THE RISK OF HYPOTHERMIA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES AND EXTREME WIND CHILLS OF 20 TO 30 BELOW ZERO WILL CONTINUE UNTIL NOON ON THURSDAY. A WIND CHILL ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED ON FRIDAY AS ANOTHER SURGE OF ARCTIC AIR DESCENDS OVER THE REGION. WIND CHILL VALUES COULD ONCE AGAIN REACH THE -15 TO -25 RANGE ON FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY NIGHT. THERE WILL ALSO BE A CHANCE FOR A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION ON SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY AS A STORM SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. FREEZING RAIN...SLEET...AND SNOW COULD OCCUR OVER MOST LOCATIONS DURING THIS TIME FRAME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED. ILZ036-040>042-047>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-081200- CASS-CHRISTIAN-CLARK-CLAY-COLES-CRAWFORD-CUMBERLAND-DOUGLAS-EDGAR- EFFINGHAM-FULTON-JASPER-LAWRENCE-LOGAN-MACON-MASON-MENARD-MORGAN- MOULTRIE-RICHLAND-SANGAMON-SCHUYLER-SCOTT-SHELBY- 317 PM CST WED JAN 7 2015 ...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST THURSDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS...EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT AS AN ARCTIC AIR MASS CONTINUES TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA. TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON AND THEN FALL TO BETWEEN 10 AND 15 BELOW ZERO TONIGHT. THE COMBINATION OF THE BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES AND NORTHWEST WINDS WILL CREATE WIND CHILLS OF 15 TO 25 BELOW ZERO THROUGH TONIGHT. PERSONS SHOULD LIMIT THEIR TIME OUTSIDE. IF THEY MUST BE OUTSIDE...DRESS IN LAYERS AND COVER AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. FROST BITE COULD OCCUR IN 30 MINUTES OR LESS ON EXPOSED SKIN. EXTENDED EXPOSURE WITHOUT PROPER CLOTHING WILL INCREASE THE RISK OF HYPOTHERMIA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE BITTER COLD TEMPERATURES AND EXTREME WIND CHILLS OF 15 TO 25 BELOW ZERO WILL CONTINUE UNTIL NOON ON THURSDAY. DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS COULD BE POSSIBLE ON FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY NIGHT AS WIND CHILL VALUES COULD ONCE AGAIN REACH THE -10 TO -20 RANGE. THERE WILL ALSO BE A CHANCE FOR A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION ON SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY AS A STORM SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. FREEZING RAIN...SLEET...AND SNOW COULD OCCUR OVER MOST LOCATIONS DURING THIS TIME FRAME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED. WERTZ
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Dangerously cold wind-chill readings of -25 to -30F developed across Knox County during the early morning of January 8th.
Dangerously cold wind-chill readings of -25 to -30F developed across Stark County during the early morning of January 8th.
Dangerously cold wind-chill readings of -25 to -30F developed across Marshall County during the early morning of January 8th.
Dangerously cold wind-chill readings of -25 to -30F developed across Woodford County during the early morning of January 8th.
Dangerously cold wind-chill readings of -25 to -30F developed across Peoria County during the early morning of January 8th.
Dangerously cold wind-chill readings of -25 to -30F developed across Tazewell County during the early morning of January 8th.
Dangerously cold wind-chill readings of -25 to -30F developed across McLean County during the early morning of January 8th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, January 2015
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: 556016, 556017, 556019, 556020, 556021, 556022, 556023.