Motorists in parts of central Illinois could encounter blowing dust as farmers prep their fields and gusty winds hammer the region.
According to a weather statement from the National Weather Service, blowing dust could occur in a wide swath of central Illinois, including rural areas near Springfield, Decatur, Bloomington and Champaign.
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It is expected that wind gusts will exceed 30-to-40 miles per hour on Monday afternoon. Coupled with farmers prepping their fields for the planting season, and forecasters are expecting blowing dust to become an issue on roadways, especially on east-west thoroughfares, according to the alert.
Forecasters say motorists can expected “localized hazardous driving conditions” in impacted areas, with dust drastically reducing visibility Monday afternoon.
Experts advise motorists not to try to drive through areas where blowing dust is impacting conditions, and to pull as far off the roadway as possible and to turn off lights on their vehicles.
The conditions are expected to persist well into the evening, with a storm front approaching the region and potentially bringing showers and strong-to-severe thunderstorms along with it, according to forecast models.
Central Illinois is at a marginal-to-slight risk of severe weather, with the main threats being gusty winds and large hail late Monday and even into Tuesday morning, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
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