Illinois Could See More Than 36 Inches of Snow This Winter

It's not breaking news that Illinois gets snow every winter. Sometimes that includes a lot of snow. It's also not a great revelation that it's hard to know what winter is going to be like months ahead of time. However, there is one new outlook that believes Illinois will see much more snow than usual this winter, but there are a couple of caveats.

Let's be clear about a couple of things. This "official" snow forecast for winter 2025/2026 does NOT come from the National Weather Service. Instead, it's from a YouTube channel that does have a major following, Direct Weather. As of this writing, they have nearly 300,000 followers on YouTube.

While I would recommend you watch his full explanation of why Illinois should expect more than 36 inches of snow, I'll summarize a couple of his big points. Here's what a typical winter would look like in Illinois based on snowfall averages. The dark blue areas normally see between 2 and 3 feet of snow most winters. The northern half of Illinois is in that area while southern Illinois is in the 12 to 24 inch territory.

Here's what Direct Weather believes Illinois will see based on computer models, La Niña conditions, etc.

He believes that all of Illinois will see more than the average snowfall this winter which means greater than the normal 24 to 36 inch range. In their video description, they offer the same warning that I did at the beginning of this:

"ALWAYS BE SURE TO SEEK OFFICIAL GUIDENCE FROM THE NWS AND OR THE NHC IN THE CASE OF A DANGEROUS OR LIFE THREATENING EVENT"

Don't mistake this winter snow prediction for an official National Weather Service or NOAA Climate Prediction Center advisory. It's not. It's a very knowledgeable and popular YouTube channel looking at models and trends. That's why it's not a bad idea to take what they're saying into serious consideration, but know that it's just a prediction that is still a few months away. Lots of things can and will change between now and when winter official gets underway.