SOUTHERN/CENTRAL ILLINOIS—The snowfall we received in the more northern reaches of our readership area (from about Richland County north, and including Jasper, Crawford, Effingham, Clark and Edgar counties) was heavy enough yesterday to close the roads last night. While many are reopened, and the snow is being moved, the danger now comes in from the wind, as the National Weather Service outlines below:
URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL 1051 AM CST MON JAN 6 2014 ILZ027>031-036>038-040>057-061>063-066>068-071>073-070100- /O.CON.KILX.WC.W.0001.000000T0000Z-140107T1800Z/ KNOX-STARK-PEORIA-MARSHALL-WOODFORD-FULTON-TAZEWELL-MCLEAN- SCHUYLER-MASON-LOGAN-DE WITT-PIATT-CHAMPAIGN-VERMILION-CASS- MENARD-SCOTT-MORGAN-SANGAMON-CHRISTIAN-MACON-MOULTRIE-DOUGLAS- COLES-EDGAR-SHELBY-CUMBERLAND-CLARK-EFFINGHAM-JASPER-CRAWFORD- CLAY-RICHLAND-LAWRENCE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...GALESBURG...PEORIA...BLOOMINGTON... NORMAL...HAVANA...LINCOLN...CHAMPAIGN...URBANA...DANVILLE... JACKSONVILLE...SPRINGFIELD...TAYLORVILLE...DECATUR...CHARLESTON... MATTOON...SHELBYVILLE...EFFINGHAM...FLORA...LAWRENCEVILLE 1051 AM CST MON JAN 6 2014 ...WIND CHILL WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST TUESDAY... A WIND CHILL WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST TUESDAY. * WIND...WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL GUST OF 25 TO 40 MPH TODAY AND 20 TO 30 MPH TONIGHT. STRONG WINDS AND FRESH SNOWFALL WILL RESULT IN BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. * WIND CHILLS...TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN IN THE 5 TO 15 BELOW ZERO RANGE TODAY AND BE 10 TO 17 BELOW FOR LOWS TONIGHT. THESE BITTERLY COLD TEMPERATURES WILL COMBINE WITH THE WIND TO PRODUCE WIND CHILL VALUES RANGING FROM 30 BELOW TO 40 BELOW ZERO WITH A FEW SPOTS GETTING DOWN TO 40 TO 50 BELOW ZERO AT TIMES INTO TUESDAY MORNING ESPECIALLY FROM I-74 NORTH. * IMPACTS...THE GUSTY WEST TO NORTHWESTERLY WINDS WILL PRODUCE SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...WHICH COULD CREATE HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS ON SOME RURAL ROADS AND COUNTY HIGHWAYS. THE BITTER WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES EXPECTED CAN RAPIDLY PRODUCE FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA OR DEATH IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A WIND CHILL WARNING MEANS THE COMBINATION OF VERY COLD AIR AND STRONG WINDS WILL CREATE DANGEROUSLY LOW WIND CHILL VALUES. THIS WILL RESULT IN FROST BITE AND LEAD TO HYPOTHERMIA OR DEATH IF PRECAUTIONS ARE NOT TAKEN.
Please take all precautions. Make sure your outside animals have some sort of shelter, and be sure their water doesn’t go to ice and stay that way for any extended period of time; they don’t know to routinely lick ice to get hydrated, and, food, especially high-protein/high-fat content food, is warmth for outside animals. Also, power is being reported out in some areas of Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative, so make sure you water pipes don’t freeze if that’s the case…and use caution with using wood burners (those of us who have them know how to use them responsibly, but there’s always a couple that just don’t do it right, every winter).
Send us your reports if you have em. Stay safe.
Paris, Illinois, in Edgar County