Much of western and southern Illinois has been dry in June. In the first map below, areas in the darker shades of orange are 2 to 4 inches below normal on rainfall for the month. Meanwhile, areas in eastern-central and northern Illinois have been near to above normal. A few areas have been downright wet (shaded in blue). Temperatures have been running 4 to 5 degrees above normal.
Continue reading “Dry in Western IL, Could Change This Weekend”
The new NOAA Climate Prediction Center outlook was released. Illinois has an increased chance of being warmer than average for July and for the July-September period. So far June has been warm with temperatures running 3.5 degrees above normal. There are no indications of how precipitation will behave in July and July-September. I’m most concerned with the dryness in western Illinois. Continue reading “New Outlook for Summer, Hot in Illinois”
The US Drought Monitor has declared nearly 36 percent of Illinois to be “abnormally dry”. This is the first stage before drought is declared. Other areas that are in the same conditions are Marshall, Woodford, and western McLean Counties in the western region and probably not so much in Grundy, Livingston, and Ford Counties (especially when you look at the 90-day precipitation deficits). We can pass along impacts to the Drought Monitor, so please send me any observations that you have. Thank you. Continue reading “Parts of Illinois Abnormally Dry”
It has been dry across Illinois and most of the Corn Belt in the last 30 days. Below-normal precipitation has occurred from the eastern Dakotas, Nebraska, through parts of Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri, and across much of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan.
For Illinois, temperatures were close to normal in the second half of May. However, temperatures for the first 12 days of June have been running 2.7 degrees above normal. Meanwhile, the statewide average precipitation for June so far is 1.52 inches, which is 0.7 inches below normal.
Continue reading “Dry Across Illinois and Corn Belt Last 30 Days”
