Salem, Illinois Weather
Salem, Illinois — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery, soil and crop conditions for Salem, Marion County.
Full aviation weather for Salem is published on the Salem–Leckrone Airport (KSLO) page, 2 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. 6 airfields within reach of Salem 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 Salem: Centralia Municipal Airport (KENL) 18 km · Mount Vernon Outland Airport (KMVN) 35 km · Flora Municipal Airport (KFOA) 43 km · Greenville Airport (KGRE) 44 km · Vandalia Municipal Airport (KVLA) 45 km
Conditions reported at KSLO describe the airfield itself. Weather 2 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at Salem specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
Soil conditions, frost risk and crop weather for Salem.
About Salem, Illinois
Salem's heart beats in the gentle roll of southern Illinois farmland, a landscape etched with the patient work of generations. It lies 52.2 miles east of O'Fallon, IL (from O'Fallon, IL: bearing 87°T), and is situated 9.1 miles east of Sandoval. Broad fields of corn and soybeans stretch towards horizons softened by the haze of summer afternoons, their emerald and gold hues shifting with the passing clouds. Interspersed are stands of oak and hickory, their leafy canopies a darker, more ancient green, offering pockets of cool shade where the air hangs thick with the scent of warm earth and distant woodsmoke. The occasional glint of a winding creek, fringed with willows, breaks the monotony of the agricultural sweep, its quiet murmur a constant, unseen presence. The sky above Salem is a vast, ever-changing canvas, from the pale, washed-out blue of midday to the fiery oranges and bruised purples that bleed across the west as dusk descends, painting the silos and church steeples in a fleeting, glorious light. This is a place where the echoes of coal mining still linger, a legacy that shaped the character and economy of Salem for decades, though the deep shafts have long since been filled. Today, the land sustains a different kind of prosperity, one rooted in agriculture and a growing manufacturing sector, with businesses that have become as much a part of the town's identity as the old courthouse square. Salem's history is woven into the very rhythm of its days, a steady, unhurried pace that allows for neighborly conversation on front porches and the familiar greetings exchanged at the local diner. It’s a town that cherishes its past, evident in the preserved architecture and the quiet pride in its heritage, a solid foundation upon which its present and future are thoughtfully built.
Live animated radar for Salem 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 | Salem, Marion County, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 38.626993°N, 88.945616°W |
| Timezone | Central Time (America/Chicago) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 61048, 62881 |
| Area Code | 847, 224, 618 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This Salem, Illinois Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Salem, 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 Salem includes coordinates 38.626993°N, 88.945616°W, situated in Marion County. ZIP code 61048, 62881. Telephone area code: 847, 224, 618. 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.
