UPDATED 6 A.M. 1/13
LINCOLN, Ill. Dangerous wind chills will cover central Illinois for the next several days.
Beginning Saturday night, where the National Weather Service Central Illinois office in Lincoln is forecasting wind chills as low as -32 in Peoria.
“This is definitely going to cause some problems for anybody that may need to be outdoors for any extended periods of time for the next four days, Saturday night through Tuesday night,” said Meteorologist Ed Shimon.
A Wind Chill Warning has been issued for Saturday night through Sunday afternoon. And, a Wind Chill Watch has been issued for Sunday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon.
Wind chills each night through Tuesday are forecasted to be between -20 to -32 below, with nighttime low temperatures between 5 and -10.
The NWS says with temperatures and wind chills that low, frostbite can occur on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.
Warming centers have been set up in Peoria and East Peoria for those that need to come inside and avoid the frigid temperatures. In Peoria, the centers are at the lobby of the Peoria Police station on SW Adams and all Peoria Fire Department stations. In East Peoria, EastSide Centre and the East Peoria Civic Plaza are designated as warming centers.
UDPATED 3:26 P.M.
LINCOLN, Ill. – Dangerous wind chills will come into central Illinois for the next several days.
The start of it will occur Saturday night, where the National Weather Service Central Illinois office in Lincoln is forecasting wind chills as low as -27 in Peoria.
“This is definitely going to cause some problems for anybody that may need to be outdoors for any extended periods of time for the next four days, Saturday night through Tuesday night,” said Meteorologist Ed Shimon.
A wind chill watch has been issued, starting Saturday night and running through Tuesday. Wind chills each night through Tuesday are forecasted to be between -20 to -27 below, with nighttime low temperatures between 5 and -15.
The NWS says with temperatures and wind chills that low, frostbite can occur on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.
Warming centers have been set up in Peoria and East Peoria for those that need to come inside and avoid the frigid temperatures. In Peoria, the centers are at the lobby of the Peoria Police station on SW Adams and all Peoria Fire Department stations. In East Peoria, EastSide Centre and the East Peoria Civic Plaza are designated as warming centers.
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LINCOLN, Ill. – More snow is expected to come through central Illinois Friday evening before a blast of strong winds and frigid temperatures blankets the area.
Another round of snowfall fell Thursday night into Friday morning. The National Weather Service office in Lincoln says in that timeframe, as of 8:00 A.M. Friday, Peoria received 2.4” of snow. Washington received 2.5”, Morton received 3”, and Dunlap received 2.1”. The highest amounts recorded were 5.5” in Toulon and 5” in Metamora.
The next round of precipitation is expected to start Friday afternoon, with a wintry mix in the Peoria area at around 3:00 P.M., turning to all snow by 6:00 P.M. Two more inches of snow is expected to fall by Saturday morning, but Warning Coordination Meteorologist Ed Shimon says it’s not expected to stay in one place.
“The impacts are still going to be felt, even with lesser snow amounts, because that wind is going to be so strong tonight, where any snow is falling, it’s going to look like a blizzard in a lot of areas,” Shimon said.
Wind gusts are forecasted to be as high as 47 MPH overnight in the Peoria area, and averaging 32 MPH throughout the day Saturday.
The strong winds and blowing snow are one reason Shimon is not recommending people travel Friday evening. Another reason is rainfall, up to 1.5” in Peoria by the evening.
“Whatever really doesn’t dissipate or drain off of those roads, you’ve really got to be careful, because that cold air coming in tonight is going to drop the temperatures pretty quickly,” Shimon said. “Maybe not as equivalent of definition of a flash freeze, but those roads are really going to become real slick quite quickly, even in areas that didn’t receive snow.”
Shimon says the focus after the storm leaves the area Saturday morning will be the strong winds and bitter cold coming into the area. The National Weather Service is forecasting wind chills to reach as low as -27 for Peoria on Saturday night, with wind chills staying at -10 through Tuesday. Nighttime low temperatures ranging from -15 to 5 degrees through Tuesday evening.
Shimon says that will make frostbite more likely in people who are outside for a prolonged period of time. Peoria and East Peoria have set up warming centers to help those who need it get out of the cold.
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