A 57-year old man died as a result of hypothermia after he fell outside his Chillicothe home and could not get back inside. Weather conditions were near normal for the time of year, with early morning lows in the teens and afternoon highs reaching the middle 30s.
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.
A 57-year old man died as a result of hypothermia after he fell outside his Chillicothe home and could not get back inside. Weather conditions were near normal for the time of year, with early morning lows in the teens and afternoon highs reaching the middle 30s.
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 19, 11:30 PM CST, 30 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lincoln IL 1130 PM CST Tue Jan 19 2021 .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 324 PM CST Tue Jan 19 2021 Gusty northwest winds at 30 to 40 mph will highlight the rest of the evening. Winds will diminish a bit after midnight, but chilly lows between 10 and 22 degrees will occur by sunrise on Wednesday. Another front will come through late in the week but no precip is expected. Temperatures will be above normal through Thursday, then fall well below normal to close the week. && .UPDATE... Issued at 850 PM CST Tue Jan 19 2021 Snow showers associated with the cold front have been minimal in our CWA this evening. There may be a couple more hours of flurries from Champaign to Danville, otherwise precip should be done for the night. The much bigger story has been the strong northwest winds in the wake of the front, gusting up to 45 mph at times. Very efficient momentum transfer will continue for 2-3 hours post- FROPA, but winds of 20-30 mph will linger through midnight to 2 am for eastern areas. By sunrise on Wednesday, winds should be down around 10-12 mph in most areas. Clearing is approaching from the west, and it appears there will be enough dry air mixing the rest of the night for that clearing line to advance all the way to Indiana by Wednesday morning. Therefore, we have sped up the clearing in the sky forecast by several hours to account for satellite trends and high res guidance output. Low temps tonight will plummet into the 10-14F range toward Galesburg, with single digits possible near Altona. South of I-70, lows will be in the lower 20s. && .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Wednesday) ISSUED AT 324 PM CST Tue Jan 19 2021 Main concern in the near term will be snow potential this evening and tonight as a clipper moves across the region. This afternoon, water vapor imagery reveals a compact wave digging across the Upper Midwest and this wave is progged to continue across northern Illinois this evening along with attendant surface trough. While the bulk of the forcing and the best chance for accumulating snowfall falls north of the central Illinois forecast area, forecast soundings along the I-74 corridor show steepening low level lapse rates and low level moisture tapping into the dendritic growth zone suggesting the possibility of light snow or flurries down through the I-74 corridor. Ensemble guidance shows the 50th percentile snow accumulations north of the CWA, but 75th percentile does bring a dusting down through the I-74 corridor and 90th percentile brings a dusting to roughly a Galesburg to Decatur to Terre Haute line. Given the time of day, overall expect impacts from any snow to be fairly minimal. Behind the surface trough, winds veering to the northwest will increase and become gusty overnight given the steep low level lapse rates developing. BUFKIT soundings show momentum transfer values in the low to mid 20 kt range, with some sporadic higher values noted. This gustiness will be rather short lived with the pattern fairly progressive and surface ridge axis building across the Illinois River Valley by early Wednesday morning. Southwest flow returns behind the ridge axis by midday and the combination of warm advection and expected clearing of skies should help temps top out a little warmer tomorrow compared to today, with highs in the mid/upper 30s north to lower 40s south. .LONG TERM...(Wednesday night through Tuesday) ISSUED AT 324 PM CST Tue Jan 19 2021 Another strong clipper system is expected to dig across the Great Lakes Thursday while a surface low moves east across the Canadian Prairies. A trailing cold front will push south across Illinois Thursday night into Friday. While no precip is expected with the front, temperatures will fall behind the front. Seasonably mild temperatures ahead of the front with highs in the upper 30s to 40s across central Illinois will give way to highs in the 20s and 30s Friday and overnight lows dipping into the single digits and teens Friday night as a cold Canadian High settles over the Midwest. The pattern remains progressive, however, and the coldest air will be short lived as the high shifts to our east over the weekend. Early through the middle part of next week looks to be more active with a strong jet stream aloft and baroclinic zone and resulting storm track draped across the local area. Models do indicate a pair of stronger SW lows will move across the lower and mid Mississippi Valley through the first half of the upcoming week. Depending on the exact track of the low, some models do suggest the possibility for freezing rain or snow, but at this distance there remains too much uncertainty to dig too far into any details. && .AVIATION...(For the 06Z TAFS through 06Z Wednesday night) Issued at 1130 PM CST Tue Jan 19 2021 Initial concerns will center on gusty northwest winds to 30KT at times. Some weakening will come with each passing hour, as the centroid of the speed max shifts east into Indiana over the next 4-6 hours. An area of MVFR ceilings in our northern counties will affect our northern terminals at the start of the 06z TAF period. Skies will clear out by 12z, leaving VFR cloud conditions through tomorrow evening. Mixing heights tomorrow afternoon will reach high enough to tap into a 50KT SW LLJ, mixing wind gusts around 30KT to the surface. Wind shear will develop as winds start to decouple Wed evening. All TAF sites should see LLWS conditions develop shortly after sunset and through the evening. WS015/23050KT. && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && UPDATE...Shimon SYNOPSIS...Deubelbeiss SHORT TERM...Deubelbeiss LONG TERM...Deubelbeiss AVIATION...Shimon
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Lincoln IL 900 PM CST Tue Jan 19 2021 ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-210300- Cass-Champaign-Christian-Clark-Clay-Coles-Crawford-Cumberland- De Witt-Douglas-Edgar-Effingham-Fulton-Jasper-Knox-Lawrence-Logan- Macon-Marshall-Mason-McLean-Menard-Morgan-Moultrie-Peoria-Piatt- Richland-Sangamon-Schuyler-Scott-Shelby-Stark-Tazewell-Vermilion- Woodford- 900 PM CST Tue Jan 19 2021 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central Illinois, east central Illinois, southeast Illinois and west central Illinois. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... Strong northwest winds gusting to 30 to 40 mph will create difficult travel for high profile vehicles this evening. The winds should weaken after midnight. .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
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Lincoln IL 613 PM CST Tue Jan 19 2021 ILZ027>031-036>038-043>046-200415- Knox-Stark-Peoria-Marshall-Woodford-Fulton-Tazewell-McLean- De Witt-Piatt-Champaign-Vermilion- Including the cities of Galesburg, Toulon, Peoria, Lacon, Eureka, Canton, Pekin, Bloomington, Normal, Clinton, Monticello, Champaign, Urbana, and Danville 613 PM CST Tue Jan 19 2021 ...Snow Showers This Evening - Possibly Slippery Travel... Snow will continue to progress eastward across the northern portions of central Illinois through this evening. Snowfall intensities may briefly become heavier at times, reducing visibility to 2 to 3 miles. Some untreated roadways could see slippery spots develop. If you encounter snow showers, slow down, and allow for extra stopping distance as slick spots are possible, especially on untreated and elevated surfaces. Shimon
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Lincoln IL 749 PM CST Tue Jan 19 2021 ILZ027>031-036>038-041>046-053>057-200500- Knox-Stark-Peoria-Marshall-Woodford-Fulton-Tazewell-McLean-Mason- Logan-De Witt-Piatt-Champaign-Vermilion-Macon-Moultrie-Douglas- Coles-Edgar- Including the cities of Galesburg, Toulon, Peoria, Lacon, Eureka, Canton, Pekin, Bloomington, Normal, Havana, Lincoln, Clinton, Monticello, Champaign, Urbana, Danville, Decatur, Sullivan, Tuscola, Charleston, Mattoon, and Paris 749 PM CST Tue Jan 19 2021 ...Gusty Northwest Winds this Evening... Northwest winds gusting to 40 mph are expected this evening, with brief isolated gusts to 45 mph possible. Travel for high profile vehicles may be difficult at times for north to south or northeast to southwest oriented roads, including I-39, I-55 and I-57. Shimon
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
A 57-year old man died as a result of hypothermia after he fell outside his Chillicothe home and could not get back inside. Weather conditions were near normal for the time of year, with early morning lows in the teens and afternoon highs reaching the middle 30s.
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, Peoria | 2021-01-20 | 57 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, January 2021
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: 936688.