The city of Springfield lifted its snow emergency in downtown effective Wednesday morning.
On-street parking resumed in downtown Springfield. The specific geographic area is Jackson Street to Jefferson Street and from Ninth Street to Second Street.
The Office of Public Works has been focusing on main roads and secondary streets, with additional attention on the downtown area. This will allow businesses to reopen safely.
Parking is still restricted on other snow emergency routes throughout the city until 9 a.m. Thursday. That has been updated from Monday when the original snow emergency went out.
Official snowfall totals in the city from Monday s storm measured 5.8 inches, according to National Weather Service spotters here.
The predominant theme Monday in central Illinois was snow and persistent temperatures well below normal.
Snowfall totals in and around Peoria
As of about 6 a.m. Monday, 1.2 inches of snow had fallen since midnight officially in Peoria, according to Kirk Huettl, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Lincoln.
Huettl estimated close to 2 inches had fallen by mid-morning before a snowfall lull. Snow was expected to resume about 2 p.m., with a main wave lasting until about 8 p.m.
Total snowfall was expected to be between 4 and 5 inches, Huettl said.
Amounts were to be lower north and northwest of Peoria. Galesburg was to receive between 1 and 3 inches, according to Huettl. But heavier totals were anticipated to the east and southeast, with up to 7 inches possible in Bloomington and Springfield.
But by next week, the area should be trending above normal temperatures.
“For a lot of us, it will feel like spring,” said Kirk Huettl, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln.
A winter weather advisory is in effect for the Galesburg area until 6 a.m. Tuesday, with wind chills as low as -25 degrees.
On Monday afternoon, the city of Galesburg announced its cancellation of the city council meeting that was scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
The meeting has been rescheduled for Monday, Feb. 22, 5:30 p.m., prior to the council s work session. A revised agenda will be posted.
An arctic cold front coming into the Springfield area Saturday will usher in single-digit low temperatures Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Weather models are showing that the Springfield area could get 1 to 3 inches of snow Saturday afternoon into the evening, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Kirk Huettl. It will be all snow, Huettl said. We shouldn t have to worry about any freezing rain or sleet mixed in.
Saturday night s low will be around zero, with wind chills around minus 15, Huettl added.
There could be micro clippers or upper-level disturbances that could mean periodic chances of light snow into next week, he said.
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