West Frankfort, Illinois Weather
West Frankfort, Illinois — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery for West Frankfort, Franklin County.
Full aviation weather for West Frankfort is published on the Benton Municipal Airport (KH96) page, 12 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 West Frankfort 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 West Frankfort: Veterans Airport of Southern Illinois (KMWA) 18 km · Southern Illinois Airport (KMDH) 31 km · Harrisburg-Raleigh Airport (KHSB) 35 km · Pinckneyville Du Quoin Airport (KPJY) 39 km · Mount Vernon Outland Airport (KMVN) 48 km
Conditions reported at KH96 describe the airfield itself. Weather 12 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at West Frankfort specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
About West Frankfort, Illinois
West Frankfort rests in a wide, gently rolling expanse of Southern Illinois, where the earth itself seems to breathe a slow, consistent rhythm. It lies 52.0 miles north-east of Cape Girardeau, MO (from Cape Girardeau, MO: bearing 38°T), and is situated 8.4 miles north-east of Herrin. The land here, a mosaic of cultivated fields and stands of mature oak and maple, falls away in subtle dips and rises, hinting at the subterranean forces that shaped it. The air, especially in the humid embrace of summer, carries the scent of sun-baked earth, cut grass, and the distant, sweet perfume of ripening corn. Even on a bright afternoon, a certain softness seems to pervade the light, filtering through the leaves and casting long, lazy shadows across the asphalt of quiet streets. The history of West Frankfort is deeply etched into the very bones of this landscape, a narrative of coal and community that continues to resonate. For generations, the deep veins of anthracite beneath the surface fueled the local economy, drawing workers and their families to this corner of Franklin County, shaping a distinctive character forged in shared labor and resilience. While the era of large-scale mining has largely receded, the echoes of that industrious past remain, a quiet dignity in the sturdy, no-nonsense architecture and the easy camaraderie of its residents. The old railway lines, now often repurposed as trails, serve as silent reminders of the arteries that once pulsed with the lifeblood of industry, connecting West Frankfort to a wider world.
Live animated radar for West Frankfort 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 | West Frankfort, Franklin County, Illinois |
| Coordinates | 37.897828°N, 88.931458°W |
| Timezone | Central Time (America/Chicago) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 62896 |
| Area Code | 618 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This West Frankfort, Illinois Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for West Frankfort, 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 West Frankfort includes coordinates 37.897828°N, 88.931458°W, situated in Franklin County. ZIP code 62896. Telephone area code: 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.
