It looks like Bloomington-Normal will dodge the worst of a winter storm that will pass through central Illinois on Monday and Tuesday. But it will be wet and windy.
Bloomington-Normal is expected to get between 3 and 4 inches of snow from Monday night to Tuesday night, according to a Monday afternoon forecast from the National Weather Service in Lincoln. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 6 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Wednesday.
Higher snowfall totals are expected further to the northwest, past the Illinois River. Galesburg, for example, is expecting 6 to 8 inches of snow.
Here in Bloomington-Normal, snow will overspread much of central Illinois on Monday evening, continuing overnight. Low pressure tracking through the state will draw warm air north, changing the snow to rain for much of central Illinois on Tuesday, before a change back to light snow Tuesday night.
It will also get windy Tuesday night. Bloomington-Normal is expected to see wind gusts of between 40 to 45 mph. That means blowing and drifting snow.
Public works crews prepare
Road crews in Bloomington-Normal are getting snowplows, salt trucks and staff ready for this upcoming batch of winter weather.
Operations manager for the Town of Normal Public Works Department Jason Comfort said he expects roads will be manageable for the morning commute, but falling temperatures could cause concern.
“The biggest thing we are watching for is that temperature change,” Comfort said. “We’re comfortable with snow, we are comfortable with rain, but what does it look like in that transition period, is it ice? Are we going to see quick freezing?”
Comfort said crews are prepared to drop road salt if freezing rain falls tonight ahead of the snow.
The town has issued a snow route parking ban from 6 p.m. Monday to 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Bloomington city officials said they do not plan to issue a snow route parking ban tonight.
Colleen Winterland, operations manager for the Bloomington public works department, said Bloomington crews don’t anticipate the need for road salt to be dropped tonight, but she said rain coming tomorrow could help
“It will hold down the drifting if the snow gets wet, but it (forecasters) are wrong, we have the potential impact of it going to higher quantities of snow,” Winterland said.
Winterland and Comfort say both public works departments have pulled staff off other tasks, and many will be working overtime tonight to keep the roads cleared.
