Month: August 2015

Here are the statewide monthly temperature and precipitation departures for Illinois in 2015. The departures are from the 1981-2010 averages.

The standout features of 2015 so far have been:

1. the very cold February, 19.4 degrees, and tied with 2014 as the 8th coldest February on record;
2. the very wet June, 9.44 inches of precipitation and the wettest June on record.

Statewide records go back to 1895 and are maintained by the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Continue reading “Monthly Temperature and Precipitation Departures for Illinois in 2015”

Illinois experienced its wettest May – July on record with 19.69 inches of precipitation, 7.88 inches above the 20th century average, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. Most of that was due to the record precipitation of June with 9.44 inches statewide, based on their latest numbers and discussed in more detail here.

Here is the time series of May – July precipitation in Illinois since 1895. The second wettest May – July was a tie between 1990 and 2010. And it was just three years ago, in 2012, when Illinois had its third driest May – July on record with only 5.60 inches (6.21 inches below the 20th century average).

Here is what the May – July 2015 precipitation departures from the 20th century average looked like for climate division in Illinois and surrounding states. That is about an extra two months of precipitation during that three-month period.