National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

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.
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.