Elsah, Illinois — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, aviation weather, radar and satellite imagery, soil and crop conditions for Elsah, Jersey County.
Flight conditions near Elsah. Data source: locating…
Soil conditions, frost risk and crop weather for Elsah.
Elsah lies cradled by the bluffs that rise from the Mississippi River, a place where the land folds and dips with the quiet persistence of water carving stone. It lies 10.5 miles west-north-west of Alton, IL (from Alton, IL: bearing 296°T), and is situated 9.0 miles north-north-west of Old Jamestown. The air here, especially in late afternoon, carries a weight of humidity and the scent of damp earth mingled with the faint, sweet perfume of honeysuckle that spills over weathered fences. Sunlight, filtering through the dense canopy of oaks and maples that cling to the inclines, paints the narrow streets with shifting patterns of gold and shadow, transforming the very pavement into a dappled, living thing. The houses, many of them built of local limestone, seem to have grown organically from the slopes, their porches and gardens reaching out as if to embrace the wilder beauty of the surrounding ravines and wooded hillsides. The history of Elsah is as layered as the bedrock beneath it, a story etched by generations who found sustenance and shelter along this generous stretch of river. Early settlers, drawn by the fertile bottomlands and the promise of timber, established a community that has always felt a deep connection to the natural world. The local economy, once tied to the robust river trade and the quiet industry of farming, now finds a different kind of life, particularly through the presence of Principia College, whose students and faculty lend a youthful energy to the town’s serene character. The bluffs themselves, a dramatic backdrop to everyday life, also hold echoes of earlier inhabitants, their presence felt in the silent, enduring landscape that continues to shape the rhythm of Elsah.
Live animated radar for Elsah 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 | Elsah, Jersey County, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 38.956159°N, 90.359836°W |
| Timezone | Central Time (America/Chicago) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 62028 |
| Area Code | 309 |
| Page generated | July 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Elsah, Illinois, including current conditions, a 24-hour hourly forecast, 7-day outlook, NWS extended text forecast, real-time aviation weather (live METAR and TAF reports from the nearest reporting airport, with a modeled estimate shown when no station is in range), precipitation radar and NOAA GOES-16 satellite imagery. 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 Elsah includes coordinates 38.956159°N, 90.359836°W, situated in Jersey County. ZIP code 62028. Telephone area code: 309. Timezone: Central Time (America/Chicago).
Weather data is sourced from the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and the open-source Open-Meteo API. Aviation data is sourced from aviationweather.gov (NOAA), with a modeled estimate used where no nearby reporting station is available. 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.