9:44 p.m.

A little over an hour and a half later since the previous update, the power outage total in Illinois has been cut in half. Now, only about 9,000 are without power still tonight, with Vermillion and Macon Counties still seeing upwards of 1,000.

8:28 p.m.

A shortlist of rainfall amounts, snowfall amounts, and winds gusts that have been reported throughout the day. A little bit of everything was felt across the area today in a one of a kind event.

8:05 p.m.

As the outdoor conditions have improved, so too has our power outage situation since the last update. Still a handful of counties dealing with over 1000 outages as we head into the nighttime hours however, in the same area as the last check. Current outages: Macon: 3,274, Vermillion: 2,107, Piatt: 1,569, Champaign: 1,037.

7:13 p.m.

All active watches / warnings from earlier today have been removed across the Illinois portion of the area. All of our Indiana Counties except for Benton are still under a High Wind Warning and Flood Watch, both until 1:00 a.m.

6:56 p.m.

Although there may not have been a whole lot of snow on the ground at any point today, during the peak of this storm, conditions outside were brutal. The scene below is from Gilman, where whiteout conditions were seen for a period of time owing to both heavy snow and gusts near 60 mph. Photo submitted by Laura Wade.

6:37 p.m.

This tree almost took a house down with it today in Rossville, just barely clipping the edge of it. Photo submitted by Tammie Herriott.

6:30 p.m.

WCIA’s Amanda Brennan is out tonight looking at the aftermath of today’s storm. This photo is from the north side of Champaign, as yet another large tree was taken down in the intense weather. Ironically, you can see that skies have almost completely cleared this evening.

6:22 p.m.

Snowfall reports have been harder to come by since this snow was a wet, slushy, ever-changing mess, but we do have some confirmed reports in between 2-3 inches so far.

6:04 p.m.

Updated power outage map across the region. The most outages look to roughly follow the I-72 corridor. Hopefully, as conditions are now becoming better, we will see some good improvement across the board.

6:02 p.m.

Massive tree downed in Tuscola from earlier today. Photo sent in by Mauriska Neuner.

5:55 p.m.

Precip all but over with here now in Illinois. We are still dealing with gusts between 40-50 mph, particularly in the southeast portion of the area, but believe it or not, winds will be nearly calm by tomorrow morning.

5:51 p.m.

Another large tree taken down by the strong winds and heavy snow, this time in the streets of Potomac. Photo sent in by Holly Edwards.

5:30 p.m.

Downed power lines with a coating of snow on the ground north of Paxton, on Road 500 heading east. Submitted by Barbara Killion

5:27 p.m.

All lanes on I-57 from the crash we reported at 2:40 p.m. near Pesotum are now open again

5:21 p.m.

Photo of a downed tree on 1500E, south of Urbana. The wet snow that we have seen has started to cause some damage since a wet snow weighs much more than a powdery snow. Photo sent in by WCIA’s own Melissa Coyne.

5:05 p.m.

An update on current power outages across the area:

Macon County: 4,587, Sangamon County: 3,428, Piatt County: 2,864, Champaign County: 2,321, DeWitt County: 2,038, Vermillion County: 1,152, Montgomery County: 907, Shelby County: 843, Fayette County: 746, Douglas County: 667, Christian County: 656

4:23 p.m.

Winds are beginning to die down further up to the north as the center of low pressure exits to the east, but still plenty of strong, impactful gusts being felt south of I-74, which will likely remain the case until later on into the evening.

4:13 p.m.

WCIA is now back up on air and should be viewable where you are again.

4:07 p.m.

A large tree was sent crashing down over by Charleston High School earlier today owing to the strong wind gusts. A gust of 72 mph was reported in Coles County today, the highest that we have had in the area. Photo submitted by Faye Flynn.

4:04 p.m.

A look outside east of Sibley, where 2″ of snow and counting has already fallen, with constant thunder and lightning also being reported. Photo sent in by Marni Bishop.

4:00 p.m.

Radar update: Precip starting to conclude out west around I-55, but still plenty more wrap around action to go out east as a heavy wet snow falls across the region. Additional power outages are possible as we approach evening time due to the weight of this snow.

3:51 p.m.

This photo, sent in by Anita Pilarski, shows damage to the gutters of her home over in Thomasboro from strong winds earlier in the day.

3:40 p.m.

A brief tour of what it looks like outside right now from our skycams. Visibility quickly deteriorating as strong winds and heavy snow / rain continue to fall, especially in the northwestern half of the region.

3:00 p.m.

New wrecks reported on I-72 west of Champaign and near Thomasboro on I-57 northbound. We are working to get more information.

2:45 p.m.

Widespread Thundersnow reported in Central Illinois. Heavy snow and rain mixed together with tens of lightning strikes across parts of our area.

2:40 p.m.

A crash has been reported on I-57 causing delays near Pesotum. First responders are on scene and we have a crew on the way. Click here for the latest road conditions.

2:20 p.m.

Power outage numbers continue to climb. Statewide, there are 19,980 customers out of power. Many of these are in Central Illinois. Crews continue to respond in the wind as best as they can.

COUNTY NUMBER REPORTS:
Sangamon – 3,767
Macon – 3,321
Champaign – 2,578
Shelby – 1,220
Cumberland – 766
Piatt – 672
Logan – 362
De Witt – 471
Vermilion County – 485

2:15 p.m.

Video of the semi roll-over on I-74 west of Champaign. The scene has since been cleared and the road is open. State Police say the semi remains in the ditch and will be cleared at another time.

Video of powerlines arcing at a gas station in Urbana on East Washington.

One family in Bement had a fire in their home this morning, then around Noon, the strong winds tore the roof off of their family business.

Amanda Brennan is out on this story and will have the latest tonight on WCIA 3 News at 5/6.

2:08 p.m.

A 73 mph wind gust was just reported in Mattoon-Charleston at the Coles County Airport. This type of wind is likely to cause extensive tree and power line damage.

2:05 p.m.

Top wind reports across the area. Lots of 60-70 mph gusts across the region, and that may continue through 6p before the wind starts to subside.

Get the latest wind reports on WCIA.com/weather/maproom.

1:55 p.m.

Power outage numbers continue to climb. Here’s a list of outages from the area;

1:50 p.m.

Photo of the semi accident on I-74 west of Champaign. ISP: The road has been opened back up as the semi has been moved to the median, but traffic is backed up on the Westbound lanes into Champaign. State Police have also responded to additional scenes on I-74 and I-72 in Champaign and Macon counties.

1:45 p.m.

Heavy snow falling across parts of Ford and Iroquois County already causing fast accumulation. Get more details on road conditions on the WCIA 3 Winter Weather Center.

1:35 p.m.

Thundersnow has been reported along I-55 and in parts of Ford and McLean Counties where the heaviest band of snow and rain has set up.

1:30 p.m.

State Police and fire crews are responding to multiple rolled vehicles across the area. This includes a Semi and an RV on I-74 between Champaign and Mahomet, causing significant back-ups and delays. Reports of other incidents have arrived from Macon and Sangamon counties.

1:15 p.m.

High wind warning in effect for much of Central Illinois through this evening. Wind gusts of 60-70 mph+ are expected in our region.

1:05 p.m.

Engineers at WCIA confirm that a power outage near Monticello has caused the transmitter outage. We are working with Ameren to determine the cause of the outage cause and how to fix the issue. Our WCIA3 Weather Team is able to stream live on our Facebook page while we work to restore our transmitter.

Power is still intact at the WCIA News Station in Champaign.

Ameren is reporting there are almost 1,900 people without service in the Champaign area.

WCIA and WCIX are currently off the air due to high winds affecting our transmitter. Those same winds left several thousand people throughout central Illinois without power.

The outages are spread throughout the region, with several thousand each affected in Decatur, Springfield and Champaign-Urbana. Ameren’s outage map shows more than 3,000 are without power in Decatur while City Water, Light and Power in Springfield reported 1,500 without power. Rochester has almost 2,300 without power.

Ameren also reported smaller outages affecting a few hundred customers each in Clinton (400) and in Champaign, Urbana and Savoy (300).

One of the outages in Urbana was caused by a fallen power line at 1507 East Washington Street. Meteorologist Kevin Lightly captured video of the power line, which is arcing next to a Shell gas station. The Urbana Fire Department is on the scene.

While Ameren is reporting few customers without power in Vermilion County, the county’s Emergency Management Agency issued a high wind warning until 7 p.m.

These numbers are continuing to climb. There is no word from our engineering team on when our transmitter will be repaired. In the meantime, our weather team is broadcasting live on Facebook.