St. Louis, MO

Weather Forecast Office

January 5–6th, 2025 Winter Storm

Overview

Between Saturday, January 4 and Monday, January 6, 2025, a dynamic winter storm produced widespread heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain from the Central Plains to the mid-Atlantic coast, along with severe thunderstorms and tornadoes across the lower Mississippi Valley. Across our local area, a broad area of between 4 to 12 inches of snow was observed, with between ¼ and ½ inch of freezing rain and impactful sleet accumulations also observed south of I-70.

This event led to widespread significant impacts, some of which lingered for a few weeks due to the prolonged period of below average temperatures and an unusually persistent snowpack that followed. The accumulating freezing rain across southern Missouri and southern Illinois led to numerous power outages, while a layer of sleet under several inches of snow resulted in hazardous travel conditions along the busy I-70, I-44, and I-55 corridors in the region. The cold temperatures, combined with the layer of sleet and freezing rain that fell in some areas before the snow, exacerbated the treacherous road conditions, keeping ice stuck to pavement for weeks after the storm. In some areas, schools closed for several days due to the unsafe road conditions.

A radar mosaic loop of the winter storm with estimated rain and snow delineation and lightning strikes from 6 pm January 4th through 9 am January 6th.

Photos & Video
Storm Reports
Meteorology

Photos & Video


Snowfall in Alton, IL. (Photo courtesy of Charo Stovall)	Snowfall in Bel-Nor, MO (Photo courtesy of Sandra Brown)	Snowfall in downtown St. Louis, overlooking the Gateway Arch. (Photo courtesy of Joe Dumayas)	Snowfall in Edwardsville, MO. (Photo courtesy of Haleigh Heuermann)

Heavy snow falling in Highland, IL. (Photo courtesy of Spectrum News)	Cars and snowplows on a snow-covered I-55 near Mehlville, MO.	Ice accretion on a tree branch near Fredericktown, MO. (Photo courtesy of the Turners)	Ice accretion on a tree branch near Fredericktown, MO. (Photo courtesy of the Turners)

The Gateway Arch in heavy snow. (Photo courtesy of Denis Beganovic)	Snowfall measured around 10" in St. Peters, MO. (Photo courtesy of X user @jen_preuss)	Snowfall in Moscow Mills, MO. (Photo courtesy of Angela Bluhm)	Snow falling in downtown St. Louis, MO. (Photo courtesy of Denis Beganovic)

A person removing snow with a snowblower in St. Charles, MO. (Photo courtesy of Spectrum News)	Snowfall in St. Charles, MO. (Photo courtesy of Stacy Lynn)	A car driving on a snow-covered interstate in St. Louis, MO. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Roberson)	A person walking in the snow in St. Louis, MO. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Roberson)

Heavy snow falling in St. Peters, MO. (Photo courtesy of Spectrum News)	Snow-covered streets in downtown St. Louis, MO. (Photo courtesy of Denis Beganovic)	Snowfall in Wood River, IL. (Photo courtesy of Angelica Hutchison)	Snow-covered I-64/US 40 across the Daniel Boone Bridge over the Missouri River

Storm Total Snowfall and Ice Accretion


Storm total snowfall.	Storm total ice accretion. Note that these amounts may not be fully representative of the corridor of highest amounts in southeast Missouri due to interpolation of sparse ice reports.

Report Time	Location	Event Type	Magnitude
Illinois
*Adams*
1/6 11:42 AM	Quincy	SNOW	9
*Bond*
1/6 11:50 AM	1 WNW Greenville	SNOW	6
Clinton
1/6 11:35 AM	Saint Rose	SNOW	10.3
1/6 8:45 AM	2 WNW Centralia	SNOW	7.8
Fayette
1/6 11:22 AM	2 SSW Vandalia	SNOW	8.5
Jersey
1/6 8:00 AM	1 ENE Elsah	SNOW	12
1/6 9:29 AM	3 SSW Otterville	SNOW	11.5
1/6 11:20 AM	2 SSW Mcclusky	SNOW	9.3
1/6 7:59 AM	Jerseyville	SNOW	8.5
Macoupin
1/6 8:20 AM	Staunton	SNOW	10
1/6 11:44 AM	Palmyra	SNOW	7.1
1/6 9:44 AM	Carlinville	SNOW	6.8
Madison
1/6 11:30 AM	1 NNW Godfrey	SNOW	12
1/6 9:30 AM	Wood River	SNOW	11
1/6 9:05 AM	1 SSW Glen Carbon	SNOW	8
1/6 9:30 AM	1 N Troy	SNOW	4.5
Monroe
1/6 10:46 AM	2 SSE Columbia	SNOW	6
Montgomery
1/6 10:32 AM	Nokomis	SNOW	6.5
St. Clair
1/6 1:50 PM	O'Fallon	SNOW	8
1/6 9:09 AM	Belleville	SNOW	7.1
1/6 10:33 AM	3 N Freeburg	SNOW	6.5
1/6 10:33 AM	3 N Freeburg	SNOW	5.8
Washington
1/6 8:02 AM	Nashville	SNOW	5
Missouri
Audrain
1/6 8:27 AM	1 WNW Thompson	SNOW	3.8
Boone
1/6 6:00 AM	3 NNE Ashland	SNOW	5.6
Callaway
1/6 11:54 AM	Mokane	SNOW	10.5
1/6 3:00 AM	1 NNE Lake Mykee	SNOW	4
1/5 11:05 PM	1 SW Holts Summit	SNOW	3
Cole
1/6 6:00 AM	3 NNW Jefferson City	SNOW	5.3
1/6 6:00 AM	3 NW Jefferson City	FREEZING RAIN	0.19
Franklin
1/6 9:18 AM	Pacific	SNOW	7
1/6 9:29 AM	3 N Union	SNOW	4.5
1/6 10:00 AM	Robertsville	SNOW	4.3
1/6 6:00 AM	1 N Villa Ridge	SNOW	2.5
1/6 6:00 PM	1 N Villa Ridge	FREEZING RAIN	0.1
Jefferson
1/6 7:00 AM	Arnold	SNOW	6
1/6 7:41 AM	1 NE Barnhart	SNOW	4.6
1/6 8:15 AM	2 N Valles Mill	SNOW	4.5
Lincoln
1/6 7:00 AM	5 ENE Moscow Mills	SNOW	10
1/6 9:56 AM	1 E Silex	SNOW	10
1/6 7:00 AM	Troy	SNOW	9.5
1/6 9:55 AM	Moscow Mills	SNOW	8
1/6 8:06 AM	3 S Hawk Point	SNOW	6.5
Marion
1/5 11:25 PM	2 E Hannibal	SNOW	8.5
Pike
1/6 9:20 AM	Eolia	SNOW	14.7
St. Charles
1/6 6:00 AM	2 WSW Weldon Spring	SNOW	12.7
1/6 8:49 AM	3 SSW Kampville	SNOW	11.5
1/6 7:00 AM	Lake Saint Louis	SNOW	11
1/6 9:09 AM	2 SSW Saint Charles	SNOW	11
1/6 10:28 AM	Flint Hill	SNOW	11
1/6 7:50 AM	1 WSW Saint Charles	SNOW	10.3
1/6 7:37 AM	2 S Orchard Farms	SNOW	10
1/6 8:20 AM	3 NNE Saint Charles	SNOW	10
1/6 8:52 AM	1 SE Wentzville	SNOW	10
1/6 8:59 AM	1 WSW Dardenne Prairie	SNOW	10
1/6 9:23 AM	2 WSW Saint Charles	SNOW	10
1/6 8:20 AM	2 ENE Saint Peters	SNOW	9.8
1/6 8:18 AM	1 NNW Dardenne Prairie	SNOW	9.5
1/6 12:00 AM	2 WSW Weldon Spring	SNOW	9.3
1/6 7:00 AM	Dardenne Prairie	SNOW	9
1/6 8:18 AM	2 NNE O'Fallon	SNOW	9
1/6 8:45 AM	1 WSW Dardenne Prairie	SNOW	9
1/6 9:30 AM	1 NNW Saint Peters	SNOW	9
1/6 12:00 AM	1 N Harvester	SNOW	6.5
St. Francois
1/6 6:00 AM	2 ENE Farmington	SNOW	2
1/6 7:44 AM	1 ESE Knob Lick	FREEZING RAIN	0.38
1/6 6:00 AM	2 NE Farmington	FREEZING RAIN	0.25
St. Louis
1/6 9:19 AM	1 SE Bel-Ridge	SNOW	9
1/6 1:00 PM	2 ENE Chesterfield	SNOW	9
1/6 6:00 AM	1 NNW Woodson Terrace	SNOW	8.5
1/6 8:43 AM	Ferguson	SNOW	8.5
1/6 11:11 AM	Ferguson	SNOW	8.5
1/6 9:26 AM	1 W Spanish Lake	SNOW	8
1/6 12:00 PM	1 NW Ballwin	SNOW	8
1/6 7:00 AM	1 W Lemay	SNOW	7.8
1/6 7:38 AM	2 SW Saint Ann	SNOW	7.8
1/6 7:00 AM	Saint Ann	SNOW	7
1/6 8:44 AM	Wildwood	SNOW	7
1/6 10:45 AM	2 WSW Lakeshire	SNOW	7
1/6 3:00 PM	Jennings	SNOW	7
1/6 4:29 PM	1 NE Glendale	SNOW	7
1/6 11:00 AM	1 SE Affton	SNOW	6.4
1/6 9:10 AM	Crestwood	SNOW	6.1
1/6 10:46 AM	Creve Coeur	SNOW	6.1
1/6 10:45 AM	Ballwin	SNOW	6
St. Louis City
1/6 7:00 AM	3 NNE Lemay	SNOW	8.5
1/6 9:01 AM	3 N Lemay	SNOW	8
1/6 9:00 AM	2 E Shrewsbury	SNOW	7
1/6 9:10 AM	2 NNE Lemay	SNOW	6.5
1/6 12:55 PM	1 WNW Saint Louis	SNOW	6.4
Warren
1/6 8:28 AM	2 S Truxton	SNOW	8

Observations are collected from a variety of sources with varying equipment and exposures. We thank all volunteer weather observers for their dedication. Not all data listed are considered official.

Meteorology

Between Saturday, January 4 and Monday, January 6, 2025, a deepening trough of low pressure aloft moved from west to east across the central U.S., bringing with it a strong surface surface low that roughly paralleled the Missouri/Arkansas state line. Ahead of this system, relatively warm, moisture-rich air streamed northward and over the top of a nearly stationary warm front, leading to several hours of enhanced lift over a broad area of Missouri and Illinois.

A radar composite with precipitation types for the first half of the event (6 pm Saturday, 1/04 - 6 pm Sunday, 1/05). Some of the heaviest snowfall rates and a majority of the local sleet and freezing rain accumulations occurred during this period.

This is a hand-drawn analysis of surface observations taken near the peak of the storm intensity, which was roughly 9 AM Sunday morning. Note the broad area of snow (blue shading) stretching from the high plains to eastern Kentucky, mixed precipitation across southeast Missouri and southern Illinois (orange shading), and both rain (green shading) and thunderstorms across far southern Missouri and Arkansas.

While it took several hours for precipitation to work its way through the very dry air that was initially in place across the area, eventually widespread and persistent precipitation developed between late Saturday evening and early Sunday afternoon. This included moderate to heavy snow across much of the northern 2/3rds of Missouri and central/southern Illinois. Meanwhile, the melting line (32° surface temperatures) remained draped just south of the I-70 corridor for much of the event, leading to significant sleet and freezing rain accumulations across a large portion of the Ozarks and southern Illinois. The St. Louis metro area in particular saw a wide range of precipitation types during the initial period of this storm, with impactful snow, sleet, and freezing rain accumulations all observed.


After a lull in precipitation during the mid to late afternoon Sunday, a second round of primarily snow brought a second round of impactful accumulations. (6 pm Sunday, 1/05 - 6 pm Monday, 1/06).	This surface analysis time-series shows the west-to-east progression of the surface low pressure system, along with the position of a nearly stationary warm front near and south of the Missouri/Arkansas border for much of the event.

After a brief lull in precipitation rates during the mid to late afternoon Sunday, another round of mostly light to moderate snow filled into the area during the evening and overnight as the surface low moved east of the Mississippi River. As this occurred, colder air also began to filter into the area, largely putting an end to sleet and freezing rain accumulations across southeast Missouri and southern Illinois. While snow rates were slightly lower with this second round overall, this added several more inches of snow to the event total, including in areas that had previously only observed sleet or freezing rain during the initial stages of the event.

This loop shows the west-to-east progression of a deepening 500 mb trough (contours). Note the strong wind barbs along the base of this trough, which is indicating a powerful jet streak with winds reaching near 110 mph as it passed through the area.

Impactful snow accumulations finally came to an end by Monday morning, but this storm would go on to produce widespread heavy snow as far east as the mid-Atlantic Coast before drifting into the Atlantic Ocean late Monday. While the snow came to an end by the morning of January 6, an extended period of below average temperatures allowed measurable snow to remain on the ground for more than two weeks after the event, leading to prolonged impacts.

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January 5–6th, 2025 Winter Storm