Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Central Illinois
Issued by NWS Central Illinois
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237 FXUS63 KILX 181714 AFDILX Area Forecast Discussion...Updated Aviation National Weather Service Lincoln IL 1114 AM CST Tue Nov 18 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - There is a level 1 of 5 (marginal) risk for severe thunderstorms today south of a roughly Springfield to Paris line. The primary hazard would be hail up to 1 inch in diameter. - The next opportunity for rain arrives late Thursday into Friday night. The axis of heaviest rain has shifted south, but there is still a 30-50% chance for rain amounts greater than 1 inch along and south of roughly I-70. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 113 AM CST Tue Nov 18 2025 ***** SHOWERS AND A FEW STORMS TODAY ***** At 1am, scattered showers and a couple thunderstorms were drifting east-northeastward across southeast and east-central IL. CAMs suggest additional storms currently forming to our west across central and northern Missouri may expand in coverage and spread across the area through morning. KILX`s Vad profiler reveals a curved hodograph and roughly 700 m^2/s^2 of 0-3km SRH, suggesting that, despite weak elevated instability (200-500 J/kg MUCAPE), we could wind up with a feistier storm or two capable of small hail this morning. The higher risk for stronger storms will be this afternoon when various CAMs, including a couple iterations of the HRRR and 2 (of 5) 18z REFS members, indicate additional cells firing as far northwest as I-55 along the warm front beneath a mid level shortwave trough. As with this morning`s convection, these storms should be elevated and hence pose a risk primarily for hail up to 1 inch in diameter, though if somehow a storm becomes surface based (less than a 2% chance) then a tornado risk could materialize. MRMS rain estimates suggests most locations saw anywhere from a few hundredths to a quarter inch with this first wave, but there are a couple stripes of over 1 inch where the heavier storms tracked. We suspect that today`s rain amounts will be similar, with broad totals of a trace to quarter inch punctuated by pockets of 1"+ driven by convection. Temperatures today will run slightly below normal with cool advection by northeast winds north of the warm front and surface low. Once again, we blended to the 00z HRRR to knock NBM`s forecast highs down a couple degrees and have them ranging from the mid-upper 40s north to roughly 60 southwest of a Jacksonville to Lawrenceville line. Though it should be a dry day, tomorrow will feature similar temperatures with numerous clouds sticking around throughout the day to limit surface heating. ***** RAINY END TO THE WORK WEEK ***** As a cutoff low lifts out of the Southwest and into the Plains, difluent southwest flow will advect a slightly more mild airmass back into the region Thursday with highs area-wide reaching the upper 50s to low 60s. This system`s northeastward track will allow it to pull a little more Gulf Moisture northward across the Mississippi and Ohio Valley Regions, but there is uncertainty in northward extent of the more robust moisture (PWATs > 1"). Recent trends in both deterministic and ensemble guidance have been for a further south low track, which suggests our chances for substantial rainfall have dropped significantly. The latest NBM probabilities for over an inch of rain range from 10% in Galesburg to 30-50% south of I-70, down from 30-60% area-wide at this time yesterday. Behind that system, conditions will turn dry with rain chances generally less than 15% through the weekend. The lack of a strong cool advection push suggests temperatures will run near to above normal with daily highs in the 50s. Ensemble guidance suggests next work week will start off mild, but model spread increases as the pattern threatens to turn more active mid to late week, by which time there are some early indications of an impending cool down. Bumgardner && .AVIATION... (For the 18z TAFs through 18z Wednesday Afternoon) Issued at 1112 AM CST Tue Nov 18 2025 Low pressure will pass just south of the terminals this afternoon. Lowering ceilings and backing winds are expected with passage of the low. ESE/SE winds currently in place are expected to back to the NE/N this afternoon and should remain out of that direction the remainder of the period. Meanwhile, MVFR/IFR ceilings are expected to continue to expand across the region, bottoming out IFR everywhere overnight along with some patchy fog potential. Thunderstorm chances have shifted further south away from the terminals, though occasional light rain cannot be ruled out through the afternoon. Deubelbeiss && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$