Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Central Illinois
Issued by NWS Central Illinois
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090 FXUS63 KILX 032326 AFDILX Area Forecast Discussion...Updated Aviation National Weather Service Lincoln IL 526 PM CST Wed Dec 3 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Scattered light snow and patchy freezing drizzle will remain possible late this afternoon into this evening. Only limited travel impacts are anticipated, but there could be a few slick spots wherever wintry precip becomes focused. Drive with caution, especially during the late afternoon and evening commute. - The coldest air of the season so far will arrive tonight and last through Friday morning. Take immediate steps to protect people, pets, and pipes from the cold. && .SHORT TERM... (Through Late Thursday Night) Issued at 235 PM CST Wed Dec 3 2025 A cold front will move through the CWA late this afternoon through tonight. Models remain consistent that a wintery mix of precipitation is possible along and just behind the front through tonight. Predominate p-type will be light snow or flurries, but forecast soundings show the lose of cloud ice just behind the front and possibly just prior to precip onset. This indicates the p-type could also be freezing drizzle at times, during onset and also after the front goes through. This threat will continue overnight in the southeast portions of the CWA. Strongest forcing with this front looks to be in the southeast near/along I-70. This is where the highest accumulations of snow is possible, but amounts will still be less than 1/2". Any ice accumulation from the freezing drizzle will also be very minor, if at all. However, untreated surfaces, bridges, and overpasses could have some slick spots this evening into the overnight hours. Coldest air of the season will arrive tonight behind this arctic front, which will last through Friday morning. This arctic high pressure will drop into the plains tonight with northerly winds over the CWA. The combination of the decreasing winds, clearing skies, and a large snow cover, very cold temperatures are expected with overnight lows dropping into the single digits over most of the area, especially north of I-70. South of I-70, temps will drop into the teens. Winds chills are also expected to be well below zero and values of -10 to -15 are expected in the northern parts of the CWA. After a dry and cold day on Thursday, Thursday night temps will drop again as well. However, the coldest air will be around midnight as the high pressure ridge pushes to the east. This will bring warmer air back into the area after midnight. So, below zero temps and -10 wind chills will occur around midnight with temps slowly rising during the overnight hours tomorrow night. Auten .LONG TERM... (Friday through Next Wednesday) Issued at 235 PM CST Wed Dec 3 2025 Dry weather is expected to continue Friday through Saturday, followed by a clipper system Sat night into Sun. Temps will be cold enough with this system that p-type will be all snow. After another dry period Sun night into Mon, two more clipper systems will drop across northern and northeast IL Mon night through Wed. P-type for the first of these two should be all rain. However, warmer air will advect northward into the area ahead of the second one, making the p-type forecast for this one tricky. This one will need to be monitored as it gets closer. Temps will remain below normal most of the extended period, but a warming trend is favored toward the middle of next week. Auten && .AVIATION... (For the 00z TAFs through 00z Thursday Evening) Issued at 526 PM CST Wed Dec 3 2025 MVFR ceilings currently cover KPIA-KSPI-KBMI, and will advance southeast, overspreading KDEC-KCMI over the next hour. A brief period of -SN or -FZDZ could occur under this cloud deck, and kept PROB30 mention of this for a few hours this evening. The back edge of the MVFR ceilings stretch from eastern IA into southern WI, and timing tool indicates this will progress southeast across the central IL terminals from 05-08z. Mainly clear skies after that. Northwest winds will increase to 10-15 kt post-frontal, gradually decreasing and veering northeast Thursday morning. 25 && .ILX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$