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Since 1998, 88
percent of all winter weather storms -- those with heavy snow
and significant icing -- in central and southeast Illinois have
had advance warning by the National Weather Service in Lincoln,
with an average lead time of 16.3 hours.
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There has not been
a winter in Illinois without a severe winter storm in the past
century.
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Illinois
experiences five severe winter storms each year, on average.
Other interesting winter weather facts
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In the Midwestern
United States, Marquette, Mich., is the snowiest city, with an
average annual snow accumulation of nearly 130 inches! In
central Illinois, the town of Minonk, in northeast Woodford
County, has the highest average annual snowfall, with 27.1
inches.
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The biggest
snowstorm to affect central Illinois occurred Dec. 18-20, 1973,
when 14 to 22 inches of snow was measured along and just south
of Interstate 72. The highest total was in Paris, in Edgar
County, which had 21.5 inches of snow.
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In the Midwest, it
usually takes about 13 inches of snow to yield 1 inch of water.
This ratio can change from storm to storm. "Dry" snow that is
accompanied by very cold temperatures may take as much as 25
inches of snow to yield an inch of water, while "wet" snow from
weather systems that originate near the Gulf of Mexico can
produce 4 inches of snow for every inch of water.
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The coldest
temperature to be recorded in the state occurred in the central
Illinois town of Congerville, in Woodford County, when the
mercury dipped to 36 below zero on Jan. 5, 1999.
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The coldest
temperature ever recorded in the continental U.S. was 70 below
in Rogers Pass, Mont. Alaska's coldest reading was 80 below at
Prospect Creek. The world-record coldest temperature was 129
below at the South Pole.
[Provided by Chris Miller,
National
Weather Service, Lincoln]
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