The National Weather Service [NWS] has elevated Friday’s deep freeze to an Extreme Cold Warning, with wind chills expected to fall to 25 to 30 degrees below zero.
The deep freeze is expected to be followed by accumulating snow over the weekend.
The warning is in effect from 3 a.m. to noon for McLean, Livingston, Woodford, Tazewell, Peoria, Marshall, Stark and Knox counties.
The weather service says dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite in as little as 30 minutes.
Thursday night’s low temperatures are expected to drop to around 5 degrees below zero, then rise into the low single digits on Friday.
Central Illinois is on the northern edge of a massive winter storm that’s expected to sweep across much of the eastern and central United States this weekend as cold air from Canada is expected to mix with warmer air from the south, causing significant snow and ice across the southeastern U.S. and the East Coast.
Snow may be less significant in Central Illinois, but accumulation is expected. Snowfall is expected to start Saturday afternoon and could continue into Sunday.
On Thursday afternoon, the weather service indicated the likelihood of at least four inches of snow has trended upward from Saturday morning through Sunday evening.
The Bloomington-Normal area has a 59% chance of getting at least 4 inches of snow and a 20% chance of getting 8 inches of snow or more.
The snow is expected to come in two waves; late Saturday morning through early evening and the daytime Sunday.
"Be prepared for travel impacts this weekend," the weather service said.
