The statewide average temperature for January-July was 53.4 degrees, 1.8 degrees above normal and the 7th warmest January-July on record for Illinois. The warmest January-July was 2012 when we reached 57.2 degrees, thanks to the 2012 drought. In an earlier post, it was noted that January-June was the 7th warmest as well.
Here are the Illinois statewide monthly temperature and precipitation departures from normal for 2016. In the first graph, it is clear that we have been running warm for 2016 with 6 out of the 7 months above normal. Only May was below normal.
While precipitation was extraordinary in July, we were running on the dry side before that in 2016. As a result, the wet July just about canceled out the dry January-June. The statewide average precipitation for January-July now stands at 23.36 inches, 0.52 inches below normal.
Notes: Normal refers to the 1981-2010 averages, and is the benchmark for comparing current conditions to climatology. Statewide records go back to 1895. The numbers for July are preliminary and may change as more data becomes available.