Arctic Air Hits Illinois

A blast of Arctic air is hitting Illinois Thursday, with high temperatures in most parts of the state in the thirties.

Meteorologist Andrew Pritchard with Chambana Weather said the cold temperatures over the next 24 hours are just a prelude to what we’ll see next week in central Illinois.

"We’ll see a short reprieve over the weekend before the coldest air of the season arrives early next week," Pritchard said. "We’ll spend much of Monday through Wednesday with daytime temperatures in the 20s, and while we may not see low temperatures in the single digits, we’ll get awfully close.”

Pritchard said a warm air mass has pushed up into Alaska, displacing the cold Arctic air. He said temperatures there have recently ranged from 15 to 30 degrees above normal.

“All of that warm air being shoved northward means this cold Arctic air mass has to go somewhere, and that somewhere in this case is the central and eastern United States, impacting essentially everyone along and east of the Rocky Mountains,” Pritchard said.

Pritchard said the Arctic air will only stay for several days, but he expects temperatures to remain below normal through at least mid-November.