Illinois, 2018

Extreme Cold in Illinois, January 1 to 2, 2018

January 1 to 2, 2018 · NWS ILX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

setting the stage for a prolonged period of extremely cold conditions from December 30, 2017 through January 2, 2018. The coldest temperatures occurred on the early morning of January 2 when readings bottomed out between -10F and -15F along and north of the I-74 corridor.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
2

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 ILX wrote it up.

An Arctic cold front plunged through central Illinois on December 29, 2017...setting the stage for a prolonged period of extremely cold conditions from December 30, 2017 through January 2, 2018. The coldest temperatures occurred on the early morning of January 2 when readings bottomed out between -10F and -15F along and north of the I-74 corridor. Wind-chill values through the period generally ranged from -15F to -25F. As a result of the cold, two elderly women died of hypothermia. One woman passed away on December 30 in Peoria, while the other died on December 31 in Champaign.

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 Lincoln, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 31, 10:54 PM CST, 1 hour 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 31, 10:54 PM CST, 1 hour 6 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Champaign

When
January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 2, 1:00 PM CST
Where
Champaign forecast zone
Reported by
Official NWS Observations
Coordinates
40.140, -88.199 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Temperatures well below zero continued through New Year's Day and into the early afternoon of January 2nd. This was the same cold outbreak the resulted in a fatality in Champaign on December 31, 2017. Temperatures ranged from -10 to -15 with wind chills of -20 to -25 degrees.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Peoria

When
January 1, 12:00 AM CST to January 2, 1:00 PM CST
Where
Peoria forecast zone
Reported by
Official NWS Observations
Coordinates
40.788, -89.760 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Temperatures well below zero continued through New Year's Day and into the early afternoon of January 2nd. This was the same cold outbreak the resulted in a fatality in Peoria on December 30, 2017. Temperatures ranged from -10 to -16 with wind chills of -15 to -25 degrees.

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Illinois in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, January 2018

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 737463, 737465.