Cold, Dry December Ends a Warm Year in Illinois

A cold, dry December wrapped up a warm year in Illinois.

December

The statewide average temperature for December was 28.6 degrees, 1.3 degrees below normal. The statewide average precipitation was 1.41 inches, 1.28 inches below normal.
December precipitation was light and below normal across most of Illinois, except for far southern Illinois. The largest reported precipitation total was 6.03 inches in Rosiclare, an NWS-COOP site in Hardin County. Precipitation includes rainfall and the water content of snow. Click on the images to enlarge.


December snowfall was absent in far southern Illinois and increased northward. Only northern Illinois received above-normal snowfall. The largest monthly snowfall total was 24.3 inches in Bull Valley, a CoCoRaHS station (IL-MCH-13) in McHenry County.

Annual – 2016

For the year 2016, the statewide average temperature was 54.7 degrees, 2.4 degrees above normal and the 5th warmest on record. The statewide average precipitation was 39.63 inches, 0.33 inches below normal. The year would have been a dry one except for the record rainfall of July and August.
Annual precipitation was highest in southern Illinois and lowest in western Illinois. In fact, much of western Illinois was several inches below normal for the year. The most precipitation reported in Illinois was 60.46 inches at Rosiclare (Hardin County).

Monthly Departures in 2016

Here are the statewide monthly departures from normal for temperature and precipitation. Temperatures were above normal in 10 out of 12 months. The only two months that were colder than normal were May and December. Eight out of the 12 months had below normal precipitation. The outstanding months were July and August, which were both well above normal.
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