National Weather Service, Lincoln IL -- Winter Storm of January 26-28, 2009

Winter Storm of January 26-28, 2009

*(click images to enlarge)*
24 hour snowfall ending 7 am January 26 (from previous storm)	24 hour snowfall ending 7 am January 27	Storm total snowfall across the Midwest. Image courtesy of the Midwestern Regional Climate Center in Champaign.
Storm total snowfall ending January 29		Nearly a foot of snow fell across Lawrence County, in southeast Illinois. This picture was taken near the town of Birds. Photo courtesy Steve Hardesty.

A major winter storm affected a large part of the central and northeast U.S. during the week of January 25. Snow, sleet and freezing rain caused major problems from Texas northeast to Maine, with the most damage in parts of the Ohio Valley region.

Across central and southeast Illinois, impacts were felt from the evening of January 26th through the morning of January 28th. The hardest hit areas were along and south of I-70, where heavy snow accumulated to between 6 and 12 inches. Some sleet and freezing rain was reported across this area as well. The snowfall totals steadily decreased further north, with 2 to 4 inches common along the I-72 corridor, and only 1 to 2 inches in the Peoria and Bloomington areas.

An Arctic airmass was firmly in place across the Midwest on January 26th, with a stationary surface front draped well to the south across the Tennessee River Valley southwestward into southern Texas. During this time, the upper-level flow became southwesterly in response to a vigorous wave digging across the Desert Southwest. As a result, warmer air began to push northward aloft, while the very cold airmass remained in place at the surface. A strong upper-level frontal boundary eventually developed from the southern Plains northeastward into the Ohio Valley, and this boundary served as the primary focusing mechanism for widespread wintery precipitation. A piece of energy ejected from the main Desert Southwest wave and tracked northeastward along this front on the 26th. As a result, the first round of precipitation developed across Oklahoma and Missouri during the day, then quickly spread into southern Illinois by evening. Steady snow impacted locations along and south of a Shelbyville, to Mattoon, to Paris line through much of the night, resulting in accumulations from 2 to 4 inches.

Once the initial wave exited the region, a break in the precipitation was observed for much of the day on the 27th before the main wave began lifting northeastward by afternoon, bringing with it another round of precipitation. Snow and sleet again spread across much of southern Illinois by afternoon then continued into the night. As the atmospheric profile warmed slightly, the precipitation changed to a period of freezing rain along and southeast of a Flora to Robinson line; however, the bulk of the precipitation fell in the form of snow. The snow was heavy at times through the night of the 27th, particularly along and southeast of a Taylorville to Danville line. Meanwhile, two bands of lighter snow developed further north across the Illinois River Valley after midnight, then tracked eastward across the remainder of central Illinois.

As the main upper-wave pushed to the east, the snow finally came to an end by the morning of the 28th. By the time it was all said and done, many areas across east-central and southeast Illinois had picked up their most significant snowfall in several years. The heaviest snow in the National Weather Service Lincoln's area fell across Clay, Richland, Jasper, Crawford, and Lawrence counties, where greater than 10 inches fell. The highest total from this 2-day event was a whopping 12.5 inches recorded in Sumner in Lawrence County.

Snowfall Totals:

The Lincoln NWS would like to thank dedicated COOP, SWOP, and CoCoRaHS observers for the following snowfall reports:

INCHES LOCATION COUNTY TIME
------ ------------------- ----------- -------

12.5 SUMNER LAWRENCE 0800 AM

12.0    5 NW FLORA           CLAY         0600 PM
11.6    10 S MARTINSVILLE    CLARK        0600 AM
11.4    6 N CLAREMONT        RICHLAND     0730 AM

11.0 11 NE LAWRENCEVILLE LAWRENCE 1100 AM

11.0 PINKSTAFF LAWRENCE 1100 AM

11.0 6 SE FLORA CLAY 1043 AM

11.0 OLNEY RICHLAND 0858 AM
10.7 ROBINSON CRAWFORD 0700 AM

10.5 BIRDS LAWRENCE 1100 AM

10.5 7 ESE LAWRENCEVILLE LAWRENCE 1100 AM

10.3 1 E TRIMBLE CRAWFORD 0600 PM

10.2 4 SE CLAY CITY CLAY 1011 AM

10.0 PALESTINE CRAWFORD 0500 PM

10.0 1 NE SHELBYVILLE SHELBY 0700 AM

9.5 3 SW HIDALGO JASPER 0600 PM
9.5 EFFINGHAM EFFINGHAM 0519 AM

9.3    2 NE MARTINSVILLE    CLARK        0200 PM
9.0    CLAY CITY            CLAY         0700 AM
9.0    WATSON               EFFINGHAM    0806 AM

9.0    8 NW NEWTON          JASPER       0730 AM
8.7    3 E MONTROSE         JASPER       0700 AM
8.6    5 SE CALHOUN         RICHLAND     0700 AM

8.5 ALTAMONT EFFINGHAM 0650 AM
8.5 SHELBYVILLE SHELBY 0500 AM

8.3 3 NW WHEELER JASPER 1159 AM

8.0 MATTOON COLES 0755 AM

8.0 NEWTON JASPER 0730 AM

8.0 5 NW SIDELL VERMILION 0700 AM

7.8 ROSAMOND CHRISTIAN 1053 AM

7.5 CHARLESTON COLES 0618 AM
7.1 PARIS EDGAR 0700 AM

7.0 WINDSOR SHELBY 0600 PM

7.0 LAKEWOOD SHELBY 0422 AM

6.5 7 N OAKLAND DOUGLAS 0917 AM

6.0 3 S SULLIVAN MOULTRIE 0700 AM

5.7 DANVILLE VERMILION 0943 AM

5.6 2 SW TAYLORVILLE CHRISTIAN 0700 AM

5.5 TUSCOLA DOUGLAS 0700 AM

5.0 ARTHUR MOULTRIE 0203 PM

5.0 LOVINGTON MOULTRIE 0200 PM

5.0 SULLIVAN MOULTRIE 0733 AM

4.9 OGDEN CHAMPAIGN 0848 AM

4.7 2 N HOMER CHAMPAIGN 0700 AM

4.5 2 ENE PHILO CHAMPAIGN 0700 AM

4.4 7 NE MAHOMET CHAMPAIGN 0800 AM

4.4 KINCAID CHRISTIAN 0700 AM

4.3 DECATUR MACON 0700 AM

4.2 URBANA CHAMPAIGN 0600 PM

4.2 3 SW CHAMPAIGN CHAMPAIGN 0700 AM

3.8 MONTICELLO PIATT 0821 AM

3.5 3 W BISMARCK VERMILION 0816 AM

3.5 CHATHAM SANGAMON 0700 AM

3.2 1 S MANITO MASON 0801 AM

3.2 RIVERTON SANGAMON 0731 AM

3.1 FISHER CHAMPAIGN 0700 AM

3.0 1 N COOKSVILLE MCLEAN 0700 AM

2.7 4 SW BEASON LOGAN 0730 AM

2.5 CLINTON DE WITT 0300 PM

2.5 MOUNT PULASKI LOGAN 0600 AM

2.4 BUFFALO SANGAMON 0830 AM

2.4 SPRINGFIELD SANGAMON 0600 AM

2.3 1 SW JEROME SANGAMON 0700 AM

2.0 BROADWELL LOGAN 0730 AM

2.0 3 SSW LOAMI SANGAMON 0730 AM

1.9 1 S MOSSVILLE PEORIA 0852 AM

1.9 HENRY MARSHALL 0744 AM

1.8 LINCOLN LOGAN 1200 PM

1.7 PETERSBURG MENARD 0816 AM

1.6 EUREKA WOODFORD 0718 AM

1.5 3 NE BLOOMINGTON MCLEAN 0300 PM

1.5 1 NW JACKSONVILLE MORGAN 0815 AM

1.5 JACKSONVILLE MORGAN 0700 AM

1.5 2 N ATHENS MENARD 0700 AM

1.5 LACON MARSHALL 0700 AM

1.5 5 W LINCOLN LOGAN 0700 AM

1.5 2 SW ATHENS MENARD 0600 AM

1.4 5 NW PEORIA PEORIA 0800 AM

1.4 2 N GERMANTOWN HILLS WOODFORD 0659 AM

1.4 PEORIA PEORIA 0600 AM

1.3 1 N BLOOMINGTON MCLEAN 0745 AM

1.2 5 NE AVON KNOX 0910 AM

1.2 MORTON TAZEWELL 0700 AM

1.1 2 SW PETERSBURG MENARD 0800 AM

1.0 2 W PRINCEVILLE PEORIA 0815 AM

1.0 MINONK WOODFORD 0730 AM

1.0 1 SE PEKIN TAZEWELL 0700 AM

1.0 LEWISTOWN FULTON 0700 AM

1.0 1 SSW GERMANTOWN HIL WOODFORD 0600 AM

1.0 HAVANA MASON 0600 AM

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office