Extreme Cold/Wind Chill — Tazewell, Illinois

2019-01-29 to 2019-01-31 · Tazewell, Illinois

Event narrative

An 82 year-old man died of hypothermia after falling outside his Marquette Heights home during the afternoon of January 29th.

Wider weather episode

An Arctic cold front plunged through central Illinois on January 29th, bringing a bitterly cold airmass into the region. Temperatures bottomed out on the morning of January 30th when readings ranged from 15 below to 25 below zero everywhere north of the I-70 corridor. Record lows were observed at many sites, including 20 below zero at Peoria, 19 below zero at Lincoln, and a record-tying 14 below zero at Springfield. In addition, strong northwesterly winds gusting 25-35mph created dangerous wind chill readings of 40 to 50 below zero. Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington logged their all-time coldest wind chill of 53 below zero on the morning of the 30th. Winds gradually eased as the day progressed: however, actual air temperatures remained below zero along and north of I-72. With light winds and fresh snow cover, low temperatures once again fell into the teens below zero by the early morning of January 31st, with Peoria establishing a new record low for the date of 19 below zero. Temperatures finally warmed above zero by the afternoon of the 31st, but didn't substantially warm until February 1st when readings climbed well into the 20s and lower 30s.

Due to the historic cold outbreak, the governor of Illinois declared a State of Emergency. Hundreds of schools, colleges, and universities were closed. Illinois state offices were closed and the postal service cancelled service across much of west-central Illinois. AMTRAK suspended normal services as well. A water main leak in downtown Peoria caused the closure of City Hall. More than 500 customers lost power across portions of Peoria and Tazewell County for several hours on the morning of the 30th...mainly impacting the town of Hopedale. Illinois State Police transported 21 people from a broken down charter bus on I-55 in extreme southern Sangamon County to a nearby restaurant for warmth. In addition, frost quakes were reported during the peak of the cold at various locations around central Illinois.

One person died due to cold exposure during this event...an 82 year-old man in Marquette Heights.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 797646. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.