So far, August has been about 4 degrees below normal and dry across the state.
Here are the precipitation maps for the Midwest for August – more rains across the northern and southern most parts of the Midwest. Meanwhile, the rains mostly missed the central Midwest, especially in northern Missouri, eastern Iowa, southwest Wisconsin, and northern Illinois. Click to enlarge.
The outlook for the next 7 days indicates that the more substantial rains will pass to the south of Illinois. Southern Illinois has the potential of getting somewhere between 0.5 and 1.0 inches, while the rest of the state can expect less than 0.5 inches. The outlook for the week after next suggests that Illinois could see above-average rainfall.
The Big Cool-Off
Here is how the daily temperatures have looked in August so far in Champaign, IL – close to normal early in the month before the big cool-off on August 4. That is a pretty typical daily pattern across Illinois. Right now it looks like the cooler weather will prevail for the next week. We may possibly return to something more typical for August by the week after next in the northern two-thirds of Illinois, while cooler than normal temperatures may linger in southern Illinois.
