Chester, Illinois Weather
Chester, Illinois — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery, soil and crop conditions for Chester, Randolph County.
Full aviation weather for Chester is published on the Perryville Regional Airport (KPCD) page, 6 km away. It carries the current METAR decoded into plain language — surface wind, visibility, cloud layers and ceiling, temperature and dewpoint, and altimeter setting — alongside the raw observation as transmitted. 5 airfields within reach of Chester have their own pages, listed below.
The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) is shown across its full validity period, with each change group broken out so you can see when conditions are expected to shift. Flight category is derived automatically — VFR, MVFR, IFR or LIFR — from reported ceiling and visibility, with runway details and field elevation alongside. Observations update roughly hourly and forecasts several times a day.
Other airports near Chester: Sparta Community Airport - Hunter Field (KSAR) 28 km · Pinckneyville Du Quoin Airport (KPJY) 41 km · Southern Illinois Airport (KMDH) 52 km · Farmington Regional Airport (KFAM) 56 km
Conditions reported at KPCD describe the airfield itself. Weather 6 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at Chester specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
Soil conditions, frost risk and crop weather for Chester.
About Chester, Illinois
Chester rests where the rich, dark soil of southern Illinois meets the broad, slow sweep of the Mississippi River. It lies 42.8 miles south-south-east of Belleville, IL (from Belleville, IL: bearing 168°T), and is situated 13.3 miles north of Perryville. The land here is a study in gentle slopes and expansive horizons, a place where fields of corn and soybeans stretch to meet the sky, their vibrant greens and golds catching the shifting light of day. The air, especially in the humid embrace of summer, carries the scent of damp earth and ripening crops, a palpable presence that settles over the small houses and quiet streets. Even the wind seems to move with a deliberate, unhurried grace, rustling through the leaves of mature oaks and elms that line the avenues, their branches reaching out like welcoming arms. The story of Chester is as much about the river as it is about the land. For generations, the Mississippi has been the lifeblood of this community, a highway for commerce and a constant, murmuring presence. It was the promise of fertile bottomland and river access that drew the first settlers, and the echoes of that early ambition can still be felt in the sturdy, practical architecture of its older buildings. Chester's economy, once heavily reliant on agriculture and the timber industry, has evolved, but the river continues to play a vital role, supporting barge traffic that carries goods to and from the port. The town has also found a unique niche, earning a reputation as the "Popeye Capital of Illinois," a nod to the beloved comic strip character created by local cartoonist E.C. Segar, a whimsical touch that adds a distinct flavor to the enduring character of Chester.
Live animated radar for Chester and surroundings — RainViewer.
NOAA GOES-16 GEOCOLOR — live animated loop updated every 10 minutes. Shows cloud cover, storm systems and weather patterns across the continental US.
Source: NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East · Public domain · Auto-updates on page reload
| Location | Chester, Randolph County, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 37.913663°N, 89.82205°W |
| Timezone | Central Time (America/Chicago) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 62233 |
| Area Code | 217 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This Chester, Illinois Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Chester, Illinois, including current conditions, a 24-hour hourly forecast, 7-day outlook, NWS extended text forecast, precipitation radar and NOAA GOES-16 satellite imagery. Aviation weather — live METAR observations and TAF forecasts — is published separately on the pages for the nearest reporting airports, linked from the aviation section above. Additional sections may include tide predictions, wave height, wave direction and sea-surface temperature, a barometric pressure trend, and a solunar-based fishing forecast with a fishing-conditions rating for coastal localities, and soil temperature, crop weather and live USGS river gauge data for agricultural areas near a monitored waterway. All data updates automatically on every page visit.
Location data for Chester includes coordinates 37.913663°N, 89.822050°W, situated in Randolph County. ZIP code 62233. Telephone area code: 217. Timezone: Central Time (America/Chicago).
Weather data is sourced from the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and the open-source Open-Meteo API. River and stream data is sourced from the USGS National Water Information System. Tide predictions are sourced from NOAA CO-OPS; marine and solunar data are modeled from Open-Meteo and public sunrise/moon calculations and should be treated as a general guide alongside on-the-water conditions. Radar is provided by RainViewer. Satellite imagery is sourced from NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East and is public domain.
