The most recent winter storm left a band of light to moderate snow across central Illinois. With warm soils, and forecasted highs in the 40s on Friday and in the 50s on Saturday, this snow will not stick around for too long. The fact that we talking about such a modest storm underscores the quiet winter across central Illinois. In fact, the term snow drought has been raised in recent weeks to describe current conditions.
Snowfall for the Winter
Here are how the number look for this winter. Snowfall amounts since October 1 (left panel) range from less than an inch around St. Louis to around 10 inches near Interstate 80. As a percent of normal (right panel), many of those amounts are less than 50 percent of normal (light orange) and for some spots less than 25 percent of normal (darker orange/light red). The forecasts for the next two weeks do not show much in the way of opportunities for snowfall.
Here are some snowfall stats for cities in central Illinois with long snowfall records:
- Champaign: total snowfall this winter is 4.6 inches (record is 6.7 inches in 1953-54)
- Springfield: total snowfall this winter is 5.7 inches (record is 5.8 inches in 1953-54)
- Peoria: total snowfall this winter is 9.5 inches (record is 7.8 inches in 1965-66, 1994-95)
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