Heavy Snow — Clay, Illinois

2025-01-05 to 2025-01-06 · Clay, Illinois

Event narrative

Weather observers measured 5 to 6 inches of snow across Clay County...including 6.0 inches 2 miles southeast of Clay City. Due to snow-covered and hazardous roadways, numerous traffic accidents were reported.

Wider weather episode

A major winter storm system impacted south-central Illinois from the morning of January 5th through the morning of January 6th. Snow was the primary precipitation type, although the profile warmed enough to produce some sleet and freezing drizzle south of the I-70 corridor. Due to dry air flowing southeastward from the Great Lakes, there was a sharp northern edge to the snowfall with locations north of I-74 generally picking up 1 inch or less...while slightly further south along and south of a Rushville...to Lincoln...to Paris line impressive amounts of 6 to 10 inches were noted. Due to the heavy snowfall, numerous traffic accidents were reported. A 40-50 vehicle crash closed east-bound I-70 at mile marker 119 near Effingham, while west-bound I-70 at exit 129 near Casey was also closed for a time. In addition, north-bound I-55 between mile markers 123 and 133 just south of Lincoln was shut down due to an accident.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1230923. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.