Issued by The National Weather ServiceLincoln, IL 1:32 pm CST, Sun., Dec. 20, 2009
... WINTER STORM MAY CAUSE TRAVEL HEADACHES LATER THIS WEEK...
A MAJOR WINTER STORM WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WEDNESDAY NIGHT... AND IS EXPECTED TO MOVE NORTHEAST INTO CENTRAL ILLINOIS BY LATE ON CHRISTMAS EVE. THIS SYSTEM WILL BRING A VARIETY OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER TO THE MIDWEST... BEGINNING ON WEDNESDAY.
FREEZING RAIN MAY DEVELOP OVER WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS BY SUNRISE WEDNESDAY... SPREADING OVER THE REMAINDER OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS DURING THE DAY. AREAS SOUTH OF I-72 HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO WARM UP ENOUGH TO CHANGE THE PRECIPITATION OVER TO RAIN DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE FREEZING RAIN POTENTIAL WILL CONTINUE NORTH OF I-72 THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. ON THURSDAY... RAIN OR SNOW WILL BE LIKELY OVER MUCH OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS... AND WILL CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW BY LATE AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING. IN AREAS SOUTH OF I-70... MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN RAIN... CHANGING OVER TO SNOW THURSDAY EVENING BEFORE ENDING.
WITH THIS SYSTEM ARRIVING RIGHT DURING THE PEAK TRAVEL TIME FOR THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY... SIGNIFICANT TRAVEL PROBLEMS ARE LIKELY. IF YOU ARE PLANNING TRAVEL LATER THIS WEEK... BE SURE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS ON THIS DEVELOPING WINTER STORM.