Trees sagged under the weight of accumulating ice in western Illinois late Friday, while ice-laden power lines snapped in Oklahoma and tree branches crashed to earth under up to 1.5” of ice in southern Missouri. As bad as the situation was, this was but the first stage of a mammoth ice storm expected to linger most of the weekend across parts of seven states from Texas to Illinois. Projections of temperatures above St. Louis Saturday—an area expected to be hard hit by this winter’s second major ice storm to date—illustrated the problem. While ground-level readings hover in the 20s, readings 3,000 feet aloft are to reach 46°. It’s a set-up that allows rain forming there to fall into subfreezing air, glazing many surfaces.
The cold weather also threatens California with one of its 10 worst cold spells ever. Numerous temperature records are in jeopardy in the Los Angeles area. Similar cold waves in 1990 and 1998 produced billions of dollars in losses to the state’s fruit growers.
--By Tom Skilling, WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling and the WGN Weather Center staff provide daily coverage of weather in the Chicago area.
