Thanks to nearly calm winds and early morning temperatures well below zero, moisture was deposited on many area roads resulting in black ice. Numerous traffic accidents occurred due to the slick conditions, especially along I-74 in Peoria and Champaign.
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.
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.
Thanks to nearly calm winds and early morning temperatures well below zero, moisture was deposited on many area roads resulting in black ice. Numerous traffic accidents occurred due to the slick conditions, especially along I-74 in Peoria and Champaign.
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 2, 5:26 AM CST, 1 hour 34 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lincoln IL 526 AM CST Tue Jan 2 2018 .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) ISSUED AT 330 AM CST Tue Jan 2 2018 One more morning of the deep freeze and bitterly cold wind chills of 25 to 35 below zero, then some brief improvement comes this afternoon. The surface high pressure axis will remain to the west-southwest of Illinois, keeping our prevailing winds from the W-NW today. Plenty of sunshine today and slowly warming temps at 850mb will help high temps reach between 6 and 17 above zero. Wind chills will improve to zero to 10 below, but it will still be a cold afternoon. The Wind Chill Advisory and Warning should be able to be expired on time at Noon. A gradual shift southward of the surface high center tonight will be in response to the arrival of a cold front later tonight. A region of mid-level frontogenetic forcing will accompany the cold front and a 500 mb shortwave later tonight. That system is expected to affect mainly our northern counties with some light snowfall. The cold air could allow for a dusting of snow, mainly along and north of I-74 as far east as Bloomington tonight, with flurries south of there from Rushville to Lincoln. The mid-level warm advection flows and increasing cloud cover tonight will help to warm our low temperatures a bit, with lows ranging from -1 toward Danville to 6-7 above zero from Jacksonville to Lawrenceville. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday through Monday) ISSUED AT 330 AM CST Tue Jan 2 2018 The shortwave/cold front will advance across the SE half of Illinois on Wednesday, triggering a continuation of light snow or flurries, mainly south of a line from Rushville to Bloomington. Little to no accumulation is expected, due to a weakening of the overall forcing for precip. Have included slight chance PoPs only in our NE counties closer to the better forcing, which includes Champaign/Danville. Cloud cover will be gradually decreasing from NW to southeast during the afternoon. Despite a lack of sunshine, some warmer air ahead of the cold front will help high temperatures reach the teens to low 20s in most areas. The Galesburg area could remain in the single digits due to being far enough behind the cold front already at sunrise. The brief warming trend for Wednesday will be followed by another push of Arctic air. Below normal temps will be the rule the rest of the week, with wind chills in the range of a Wind Chill Advisory (-15 to -24) each night from Wed night to Friday night (mainly N of I-74 but possibly as far south as I-72). Will not hoist another advisory for those conditions just yet, and will let the current cold headlines expire first. While dry conditions should prevail during the cold snap the last half of this week, there is one weak shortwave diving across west-southwest Illinois Thursday night into Friday. We added some slight chance PoPs for light snow from Rushville to Jacksonville. A dusting of accumulation may occur. A pattern change for this weekend will result in increasing southerly flow and warming temps. There are some differences in the track of the surface low pressure center, but the overall consensus is for a trough to pass across Illinois. The primary affects on our weather look to be from Sunday through Monday. A surge of warm air ahead of the low and subsequent cold front will set the stage for some mixed precipitation, or a change-over to all rain for areas south of Canton to Champaign, and especially south of I-70 where the warmest air should reach. Light snow is expected to develop Sunday morning across a majority of our forecast area, with snow mixing with or changing to rain late Sunday morning and afternoon south of Rushville to Champaign. Light rain or a wintry mix looks to continue Sunday evening before cold air returns and changes all precip back to snow. The ECMWF has a more southerly track to the surface low than the GFS, and thus has a colder airmass in our area for this system. We lowered the high temps slightly to trend toward the ECMWF solution, and reduced the northward surge of rain chances slightly for Sunday into Sunday evening. Can not rule out some freezing rain and light icing with this system, but confidence on location of that is low at this point, due to model differences. Light snow chances are expected to continue on Monday, as the low and cold front exit to the east. QPF amounts and expected snow ratios look favorable for some measurable snow for our northern counties, especially along and north of I-74. Several inches could accumulate over an extended period from Sunday morning through Monday afternoon, but it's too soon to put specific numbers out yet with all the variability in the models at days 6-7. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Wednesday morning) Issued at 526 AM CST Tue Jan 2 2018 High pressure centered just west of Illinois will keep VFR conditions going until later tonight, when some MVFR clouds and visibility will be possible with an approaching cold front. Cold and dry air today will keep clouds at bay, with steady W-NW winds increasing to 10-12kt by afternoon. The cold front could reach near the Illinois river by the end of the 12z TAF period, bringing lower clouds and snow chances to PIA and BMI after 09z. Confidence is low on MVFR conditions developing, but trended toward that possibility with this issuance. && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Chill Advisory until noon CST today for ILZ062-063-066>068- 071>073. Wind Chill Warning until noon CST today for ILZ027>031-036>038- 040>057-061. && SHORT TERM...Shimon LONG TERM...Shimon AVIATION...Shimon
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Lincoln IL 546 AM CST Tue Jan 2 2018 ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061-031215- Cass-Champaign-Christian-Coles-De Witt-Douglas-Edgar-Fulton-Knox- Logan-Macon-Marshall-Mason-McLean-Menard-Morgan-Moultrie-Peoria- Piatt-Sangamon-Schuyler-Scott-Shelby-Stark-Tazewell-Vermilion- Woodford- 546 AM CST Tue Jan 2 2018 ...WIND CHILL WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST TODAY... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central Illinois, east central Illinois and west central Illinois. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... Wind chills are expected to continue in the 20 to 35 below zero range this morning. Frostbite can occur as quickly as 15 to 20 minutes under these extreme conditions. Actual air temperatures early this morning will be in the will fall into the 10 to 17 degree below zero range. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY... Additional cold wind chills colder than 15 below are expected each night from Wednesday night through Friday night. A storm system Sunday and Monday could bring several inches of snow to portions of central Illinois. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated through tonight. ILZ062-063-066>068-071>073-031215- Clark-Clay-Crawford-Cumberland-Effingham-Jasper-Lawrence-Richland- 546 AM CST Tue Jan 2 2018 ...WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST TODAY... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of east central Illinois and southeast Illinois. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... Wind chill temperatures this morning will range from 15 below to 20 below zero. Frostbite can occur in less than 30 minutes in these conditions. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY... No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated through tonight. Shimon
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous traffic accidents occurred around Peoria County due to black ice developing on area roads.
Numerous traffic accidents occurred around Champaign County due to black ice developing on area roads.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, January 2018
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: 731225, 731226.