Winter weather to bring slick roads, snow to the metro-east soon. See latest forecast
Southwestern Illinois and St. Louis are expected to have snowfall Tuesday and potentially more later in the week, and road conditions may deteriorate.
“We are expecting snow, but not a great amount in the final analysis,” National Weather Service St. Louis senior service hydrologist Mark Fuchs told the News-Democrat Monday afternoon. “Most of the precipitation should fall as rain for the metro-east and St. Louis City and St. Louis County.”
The estimated precipitation total is about 1 inch, Fuchs continued, and the majority of rainfall is expected to occur Monday night. The rain should taper into the early hours Tuesday, and forecasters expect the rain to change over to snow Tuesday evening.
The Belleville area should only get roughly half an inch of snow, Fuchs said, and St. Louis City and south St. Louis County are also expected to receive about half an inch. Northern Madison County, north St. Louis County and St. Charles County could get closer to an inch.
“The farther north you go, the more precipitation we are expecting overall for the two days,” Fuchs said.
Snowfall will likely begin in Belleville around 4 or 5 p.m. Tuesday, and west St. Louis County and St. Charles County may see snow begin earlier.
Temperatures are expected to drop to or below freezing in the St. Louis area by around 6 p.m. Tuesday or around 7 p.m. in Belleville, and it will likely drop to the upper 20s by the time snowfall ends.
“Roads will be slick. There will be areas where accidents will happen, as they often do, and be particularly careful when this precipitation changes over to snow late tomorrow,” Fuchs said. “That would be something for the entire area to be wary of.”
St. Clair County and St. Louis are not under a winter weather advisory as of Monday afternoon, but Illinois’ Jersey and Greene counties, as well as Montgomery and Lincoln counties in Missouri, are under a weather advisory.
Typically, the St. Louis area sees about 3 inches of snow by this time of year, Fuchs said. About 2.5 inches of snow have fallen so far this season, and the area may catch up to the normal snowfall amount soon.
NWS St. Louis meteorologists are keeping a close eye on potential winter weather events Friday, Fuchs added.
“There is maybe some potential for maybe a little bit more snow than this one is providing the metro-east and St. Louis City and county area,” Fuchs said. “So it’s something we’re watching, but there’s a wide range of possibilities in terms of amounts so it’s a little bit early to discuss that in detail.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2024 at 3:25 PM.
