Snow and slick roads canceled school; more cold ahead before a thaw begins

An overnight dumping of snow left road conditions slick enough to cancel several schools in central Illinois Friday.

According to National Weather Service meteorologist John Bumgardner, an upper-level disturbance provided enough uplift in areas south of Interstate 74 – like Springfield and Lincoln – to dump around 2-3 inches of snow in those areas.

A cold front moved in after that system moved through, dropping temperatures and creating low wind chills, with morning wind chills getting down to 13 degrees below zero in Springfield.

"Around midnight, we had a pretty pronounced drop and this morning, we were getting down to 10-12 below values in Springfield," Bumgardner said.

A wind chill advisory is in effect for much of the area from 6 p.m. until noon Saturday, with Springfield dropping to 17 below zero early Saturday morning.

"Right now, our current wind chills are not quite at -15, which is our threshold," Bumgardner said. "They should be dropping early this afternoon into the evening, especially as the sun goes down."

Conditions will warm up after Saturday with mid-to-upper 30-degree temperatures on the way early next week, even with the potential for a small amount of freezing rain. Bumgardner said the freezing rain threat doesn't appear to pose much risk.

"We're thinking it's probably not going to be anything too impactful," Bumgardner said. "Temperatures are quick to warm up. By Tuesday, we've got a forecast high of 39 in Springfield. Of course, there's some uncertainty, but we could definitely be into the 40s by the middle of next week."

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Some schools were closed or transitioned to e-learning because of the cold and snow Friday. Here's a look at those districts:

Sangamon County

Pawnee CUSD #11: Pawnee's e-learning plan was in place with "freezing temperatures and blowing snow" making it hard for the district to have classes. Parents were to be informed about the status of after-school activities.

Christian County

Morrisonville CUSD #1: Morrisonville had an e-learning day, with no more than five hours of classroom instruction.

Taylorville CUSD #3: Taylorville was closed Friday, utilizing one of their five emergency days without e-learning.

Edinburg CUSD #4: Edinburg also utilized an e-learning day Friday.

Pana CUSD #8: Pana schools cited poor road conditions in calling off classes Friday.

South Fork CUSD #14: South Fork had e-learning Friday.

Montgomery County

Panhandle CUSD #2: Panhandle, which includes schools in Raymond and Farmersville, was on e-learning Friday.

Hillsboro CUSD #3: Cold weather was cited for closing Hillsboro schools Friday.

Litchfield CUSD #12: Litchfield had e-learning Friday due to the cold, with the district's Rooms app being used for daily assignments.

Nokomis CUSD #22: Classes were canceled in Nokomis, with weather and poor visibility being given as reasons.

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Macoupin County

Piasa Southwestern CUSD #9: Southwestern schools were closed on Friday.

Pike County

Griggsville-Perry CUSD #4: Classes at Griggsville-Perry schools were canceled for Friday.

Pikeland CUSD #10: Road conditions and wind chill were cited in canceling classes at Pikeland Friday. All athletic activities were canceled for the day.

Western CUSD #12: Wind chills and drifting snow forced classes to cancel at Western in Barry.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Area schools closed because of slick roads due to overnight snow