BITTER ELECTION DAY COLD HITS PIKE COUNTY, IL

PITTSFIELD — Voters heading to the polls across Pike County, Illinois, today, Tuesday, March 17, are being met with bitter cold, strong northwest winds, and the chance of light snow or flurries as a late-season blast of winter air moves through the region.

NOAA’s National Weather Service forecast for Pittsfield shows a high near 32 degrees with northwest winds around 6 to 8 miles per hour through the day, after a much colder and windier stretch overnight and early this morning. Snow is expected to remain light, but forecasters say slick spots and sharply colder wind chills could still make for an uncomfortable trip to the polls.

The colder air follows a storm system that brought snow and powerful winds into the region, with NOAA forecasting less than an inch of new snow accumulation in the Pittsfield area and overnight northwest wind gusts reaching as high as 50 miles per hour. While the strongest winds were expected before daybreak, the leftover cold and occasional flurries are still making for a raw and wintry election day across Pike County, Illinois. Polls in Illinois are open today, and anyone heading out to vote will want to bundle up and allow a little extra time.

Across the river in Pike County, Missouri, communities including Bowling Green, Missouri, and Louisiana, Missouri, are seeing much of the same cold pattern. NOAA forecasts show highs only in the mid-30s today, following overnight lows around 10 degrees and lingering northwest winds that continue to keep the air feeling much colder. Bowling Green’s forecast calls for increasing clouds with a high near 34, while the Louisiana forecast shows a high near 33. Both communities also remain under the influence of the same cold, dry air mass that swept in behind the weekend storm system.

The snow threat in Pike County, Missouri is lower through much of the day today than it was overnight, but NOAA says the region remains cold enough for any leftover flurries or slick patches to cause minor travel issues, especially early. In Missouri, the next major local election date is Tuesday, April 7, when municipal races will be decided in communities including Bowling Green and Louisiana, but today’s story is the weather as residents on both sides of the river deal with dangerous March chill.

Forecasters say the good news is that the cold snap will not last long. Both Pike County, Illinois, and Pike County, Missouri, are expected to begin warming quickly after today, with a much milder pattern returning by midweek. For now, though, election day in Pike County, Illinois is arriving with a reminder that winter is not quite done yet.