Wind chill advisory through 11 a.m. Saturday

(3:22 p.m. Friday announcement)

[February 04, 2010]  Arctic high pressure settling into the area late Friday night into Saturday morning added bitterly cold wind chills to the forecast. The combination of northwest winds of 5 to 10 mph and overnight low temperatures of zero to 5 below will produce wind chill values of between 10 to 20 below zero.

The National Weather Service in Lincoln issued a wind chill advisory in effect from 9 p.m. Friday to 11 a.m. Saturday for the counties of Knox, Stark, Peoria, Fulton, Tazewell, Schuyler, Mason, Logan, Cass, Menard, Scott, Morgan, Sangamon and Christian, including the cities of Galesburg, Peoria, Havana, Lincoln, Jacksonville, Springfield and Taylorville.

Wind chill values will range from 10 to 20 below zero into Saturday morning. Frostbite can occur on exposed skin in less than 30 minutes in these conditions.

Precautionary, preparedness actions:

A wind chill advisory means that the combination of very cold air and winds of around 10 mph will generate low wind chills.

This will result in frostbite and lead to hypothermia if precautions are not taken. If you must venture outdoors, make sure you wear a hat and gloves and minimize as much exposed skin as possible.

[Text from file received from the Emergency Email Network]