I just posted some thoughts on the winter and it’s impact on the 2014 growing season in the Corn Belt as a guest on the AgriClimate Connection blog – a joint venture between two USDA project Sustainable Corn and U2U (Useful to Usable). Check out Waiting for Spring.
Champaign-Urbana Winter Weather Stats
Below is a summary of the February and winter weather statistics for Champaign-Urbana:
February
- The average temperature for February was 19.0 degrees, which was 9.9 degrees below average and the 9th coldest on record.
- The total snowfall for February was 14.6 inches, which was 8.8 inches above average and the 10th snowiest on record.
Winter
- The average temperature for the three core winter months of December, January, and February, was 21.6 degrees, which was 8.6 degrees below average and the 9th coldest on average.
- Our seasonal snowfall total that goes all the way back to November, was 41.1 inches as of March 3. That makes it the 7th snowiest seasonal total on record and 17.9 inches above the seasonal average of 23.2 inches.
It was certainly a cold and snowy winter but it was hard to beat those winters in the late 1970s and early 1980s. For example, the winter of 1977-78 experienced the most snow in Champaign-Urbana history with 67.2 inches. It was also the coldest during the December-February period at 20.2 degrees.
The official NWS cooperative observer site is located at the Illinois State Water Survey near the corner of First and Windsor in Champaign.