Goose Lake Weather Blog

Severe weather season is approaching. Take steps now to prepare.

Image courtesy NOAA/NWS Central Illinois

Learn more in Severe Weather Preparedness published by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

A Winter Weather Advisory has been posted for Grundy County. At the present time, forecasters are expecting a mix of snow, sleet, and rain.

A 4.3 magnitude earthquake was recorded around 3:59 AM this morning centered about 5 miles east of Sycamore, IL.

More info here.

Update: the USGS has revised their findings to estimate a 3.8 earthquake based on new data.

A winter storm watch has been issued for northern Illinois including Grundy county

A STRONG SURFACE LOW IS LIKELY TO DEVELOP OVER THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY MONDAY NIGHT. THIS LOW WILL MOVE INTO KENTUCKY BY TUESDAY AND THEN INTO OHIO BY WEDNESDAY. THERE IS ABOUT A 60 PERCENT PROBABILITY OF THIS STORM TRACK AT THIS TIME. THIS PATH OF THE LOW PUTS A BAND OF SNOW OVER NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS TUESDAY.

117 PM CST SUN FEB 7 2010

…WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WATCH…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH LATE
TUESDAY NIGHT.

* TIMING…FROM LATE MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH LATE TUESDAY NIGHT.
* ACCUMULATIONS…SNOW AMOUNTS OF UP TO 10 INCHES MAY OCCUR IN 24 HOURS.
* HAZARDS…POSSIBLE HEAVY AND DRIFTING SNOW.
* IMPACTS…POSSIBLE HAZARDOUS TRAVEL AND AIRPORT TRAVEL IMPACTS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW…SLEET…OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL.
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.

Want to learn more about CoCoRaHS? Recently a Fargo, ND TV meteorologist created a great new video on CoCoRaHS and posted it to youtube. Watch it now.

We can always use more participants in Grundy and surrounding counties. To sign up or learn more click here.

Some highlights from January:

Averages\Extremes for the month of January 2010

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• Average temperature = 20.2°F
• Average humidity = 86%
• Average dewpoint = 16.6°F
• Average barometer = 30.159 in.
• Average windspeed = 4.1 mph
• Average gustspeed = 6.7 mph
• Average direction = 279° ( W )
• Precipitation for the month = 1.13 in.
• Snowfall = 6.8 inches.
• Maximum temperature = 47.0°F on day 23 at time 23:31
• Minimum temperature = -9.7°F on day 10 at time 07:14
• Maximum humidity = 100% on day 21 at time 01:43
• Minimum humidity = 44% on day 29 at time 13:35
• Maximum dewpoint = 45.3°F on day 23 at time 23:27
• Minimum dewpoint = -13.0°F on day 10 at time 6:59
• Maximum pressure = 30.61 in. on day 09 at time 21:25
• Minimum pressure = 29.19 in. on day 24 at time 07:52
• Maximum windspeed = 24.2 mph from 293°(WNW) on day 25 at time 19:20
• Maximum gust speed = 40.3 mph from 293°(WNW) on day 25 at time 19:18
• Avg daily max temp :26.7°F
• Avg daily min temp :13.0°F
• Total windrun = 3022.0miles

Snow was reported on the ground for all but 2 days during the month.

The low temperature this morning was -10 degrees F. If you think that it’s been a cold January, you are correct. The following image depicts the departure from mean for the first nine days of the month. It does appear as though temperatures will moderate later this week.

Happy New Year!

Here are some climate highlights from 2009

Temperature:
Warmest temperature: 93.5 degrees on June 23
Coldest temperature: -27.0 degrees on January 16 ( a new all-time record low at Goose Lake Weather)
Mean annual temperature: 49.4 degrees

Precipitation:
Total precipitation (rain and melted snow): 55.18 inches (!). A very wet year.
Total annual snowfall: 36.4 inches
Greatest 24 hour total rainfall: 3.26 inches on April 27 (most of this fell in 4 hours during the evening of 4/27)
Greatest 24 hour snowfall: 4.6 inches on January 14
Greatest storm total snowfall 6.7 inches ending January 15 (extremely low water content with a 61:1 ratio)

A cold front will usher in much colder air overnight and through the weekend. With the 2.6 inches of new snow overnight and increasing winds, some blowing and drifting is possible tonight. Be careful if out and about tonight, especially in open rural areas.

Wishing all a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!

Cold front to usher in much colder air.

image courtesy NOAA/ HPC

Freezing rain today deposited between 0.1 and 0.2 inch of glaze over all surfaces.

Glaze from freezing rain on shrubs

Ice covered CoCoRaHS rain gauge

Ice on Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station