Here are the statewide Illinois monthly temperature and precipitation departures from the 1981-2010 average for both 2011 and 2012. We have had a run of above-average temperatures since October 2011 and a run of below-average precipitation since January of 2012. The latest outlooks published on June 30 by the National Weather Service shows that the odds of this pattern of warmer and drier conditions to prevail through July (bottom figure).
