Strong northwesterly winds developed behind a passing cold front during the morning of December 10th. including 48mph at the Coles County Airport and 57mph at mesonet station AT671 in Shelbyville.
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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.
Strong northwesterly winds developed behind a passing cold front during the morning of December 10th. Wind gusts briefly reached 45-55mph at several observing sites...including 48mph at the Coles County Airport and 57mph at mesonet station AT671 in Shelbyville. The highest measured gust of 58mph occurred at Capital Airport in Springfield. No wind damage was reported.
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 10, 5:48 AM CST, 2 hours 12 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion...Updated Aviation National Weather Service Lincoln IL 548 AM CST Wed Dec 10 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Strong northwesterly winds gusting 40-50 mph will accompany scattered rain and snow showers this morning. - Snow will spread across much of central Illinois Thursday afternoon through Thursday night. There is a 50-80% chance for greater than 2 inches of snow along and northeast of a Macomb to Robinson line. - Another surge of very cold air is expected by the end of the week...resulting in sub-zero apparent temperatures Friday night through Monday morning. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 334 AM CST Wed Dec 10 2025 ...Strong Winds This Morning... 08z/2am surface analysis shows a pre-frontal trough approaching the Illinois River...with a cold front noted further upstream across northern portions of Iowa/Nebraska. Once the trough swings through the area, winds will veer to northwesterly and gust 30-40mph for the entire day. The main concern for higher gusts sill focuses on scattered rain/snow showers along and just behind the cold front. Models have backed off somewhat on the magnitude of the gusts, as winds at the top of the mixed layer are generally less than 50mph. Still think the showers will be able to mix some of the momentum down to the surface resulting in occasional gusts in the 40-50mph range through midday. A Wind Advisory remains in effect for much of central Illinois accordingly. Surface temperatures will initially be in the upper 30s and lower 40s early this morning, but will drop into the lower to middle 30s as the scattered showers arrive. The snow may temporarily cut visibilities to less than 1 mile in a few spots and will likely result in a dusting to a couple tenths of an inch on grassy surfaces. The most widespread/significant snow showers will push into Indiana by midday, followed by just flurries for the remainder of the afternoon and evening. ...Snow Late Thursday... 00z Dec 10 models continue to have difficulty pinning down the exact track of the next approaching clipper system, which is evident on latest water vapor imagery over British Columbia. Since the system is now on land, it will be much better sampled by both surface and upper air observations...thus the next model cycle should have a much better handle on the exact details. Presently there are two distinct camps...the synoptic models such as the ECMWF and GFS which take the system across the heart of central Illinois and the higher-res models such as the NAM and HRRR that track it a bit further north. Taking the middle-of-the-road model consensus places the axis of heaviest snowfall generally along the I-74 corridor...but this could be shifted slightly northward if the CAMs continue their trends. As it stands right now, it appears snow will develop across the Illinois River Valley by mid-afternoon, then quickly spread eastward toward I-57 by sunset. The heaviest/steadiest snow will occur during the evening, with the precip shifting eastward and diminishing overnight. The 00z Dec 10 LREF now shows a high probability (50-80% chance) for greater than 2 inches of snow along/north of a Macomb to Robinson line. Given the northward shift in the track, an elevated warm layer could lead to mixed precipitation along the S/SW edge of the main snow band. This looks most likely to occur along/southwest of a Rushville to Taylorville line where the latest forecast includes a mix of snow and freezing rain. ...Bitterly Cold Conditions This Weekend... As has been advertised for the past several days, another surge of extremely cold air will arrive this weekend. A short-wave trough interacting with the baroclinic zone will bring another round of light snow to central Illinois on Saturday: however, it is still too early to pinpoint exact accumulations. The main weather story will be the sharply colder conditions after FROPA. High temperatures will drop from the 30s on Friday into the single digits and teens by Sunday. While wind-chill values will dip below zero across parts of the area by late Friday night, the coldest period will be Saturday night into Sunday when apparent temperatures will approach or exceed the -15F advisory criteria everywhere north of I-70. The extreme cold will begin to ease by Monday as boundary layer flow becomes S/SW and afternoon temperatures rise back well into the 20s and perhaps lower 30s in some spots. Barnes && .AVIATION... (For the 12z TAFs through 12z Thursday Morning) Issued at 548 AM CST Wed Dec 10 2025 MVFR conditions will prevail through the entire 12z TAF period. W/NW winds will gust to around 30kt for much of the day...with a period of wind gusts potentially up to 40kt occurring as scattered snow showers currently upstream across northeast Iowa pivot into the area. Based on radar trends and latest obs, think most of the snow showers and the lowest associated visbys will graze the I-74 terminals between 15z and 19z. Have lowered visbys to 1-2 miles at those sites accordingly. Further S/SW at KSPI and KDEC, opted to only carry VCSH with little to no visby restriction. The snow will quickly exit into Indiana by early afternoon, with little more than scattered flurries anticipated for the rest of the afternoon into the evening. NAM/HRRR forecast soundings show the MVFR cloud deck persisting through Thursday morning. Winds will begin decreasing by late afternoon, then will drop to 12kt or less after 03z/04z. Barnes && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory until noon CST today for Ilz029>031-036>038- 040>045-047>056-061-062-066. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Lincoln IL 404 AM CST Wed Dec 10 2025 ILZ027>031-036>038-041>046-053>057-063-111015- Knox-Stark-Peoria-Marshall-Woodford-Fulton-Tazewell-McLean-Mason- Logan-De Witt-Piatt-Champaign-Vermilion-Macon-Moultrie-Douglas-Coles- Edgar-Clark- 404 AM CST Wed Dec 10 2025 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for central Illinois, east central Illinois and west central Illinois. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. West to Northwest wind gusts to 50 mph are expected through around midday today, resulting in difficult travel conditions for high profile vehicles. Brief, localized visibility reductions are possible (20-40% chance) in a band of scattered snow showers this morning. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. Accumulating snow is forecast Thursday evening into Friday morning. There is a 50 to 80 percent chance for more than 2 inches of snow near and north of a Macomb to Robinson line. Another shot of Arctic air will arrive late this week, with wind chills well below zero Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated through tonight. ILZ040-047>052-061-062-066>068-071>073-111015- Schuyler-Cass-Menard-Scott-Morgan-Sangamon-Christian-Shelby- Cumberland-Effingham-Jasper-Crawford-Clay-Richland-Lawrence- 404 AM CST Wed Dec 10 2025 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for central Illinois, east central Illinois, southeast Illinois and west central Illinois. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. West to Northwest wind gusts to 50 mph are expected through around midday today, resulting in difficult travel conditions for high profile vehicles. Brief, localized visibility reductions are possible (20-40% chance) in a band of scattered snow showers this morning. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. Another shot of Arctic air will arrive late this week, with wind chills below zero Saturday night. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated through tonight. Deubelbeiss
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A 58mph non-thunderstorm wind gust was observed at Capital Airport (KSPI) in Springfield at 10:15am CST.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
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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: 1301277.