[I will update the statistics and maps on Monday in a new post]
While we are waiting for September to finish, we can say with confidence that it will go down as a warm, dry month. The statewide average temperature so far is 69.3 degrees, which is 3.1 degrees above normal. That is the 20th warmest September on record. That is pretty amazing since September started out cooler than normal. At first count, there are 135 records broken and another 47 tied for the daily high temperatures at individual stations.
The statewide average precipitation for September so far is 0.79 inches, 2.44 inches below normal and the 5th driest September on record. As this map shows, most of the Continue reading “Early Look at September – Warm, Dry”
Cool, Dry September in Illinois
This was posted on Friday but it was somehow not indexed properly in WordPress
Summary
Illinois has been cool and dry in September so far. The statewide average temperature was 63.9 degrees, 6.1 degrees below normal. The statewide average precipitation was a minuscule 0.19 inches, 13 percent of normal (maps below). In fact, most of Illinois is now labeled as D0, abnormally dry, with the US Drought Monitor.
Continue reading “Cool, Dry September in Illinois”
Hurricane Harvey Over Chicago
Sometimes it is hard to appreciate the scale of the disaster from the rainfall of Hurricane Harvey. To put this into perspective for us in Illinois, here are the 5-day rainfall totals of Hurricane Harvey transposed from Houston to Chicago. Amounts of 40 or more inches would have covered most of the Chicago area and stretched westward towards Rockford and beyond. Amounts of 20 inches or more would have covered most of Illinois north of Interstate 80 and extend into southern Wisconsin.
Imagine …
- the number of people that would have to be evacuated and how far they would have to go get away from the floodwaters,
- the pollutants and raw sewage in all that floodwater,
- the amount of damage to Chicago and the region – damage to businesses, homes, schools, hospitals, airports, highways, railroads, etc.,
- the amount of time and money it would take for Chicago to ever recover from such a disaster,
- the ecological damage to Lake Michigan and the Illinois River Basin as these flood waters pushed chemicals and debris far and wide,
- getting a year’s worth of rain (and more) in 5 days – the statewide average precipitation in Illinois is 40 inches.
August, Cool and Dry for Illinois
August
August was cool and dry for most of Illinois. The statewide average temperature was 70.6 degrees, 3 degrees below normal, and the 12th coolest August on record. This followed June and July which were both slightly above normal. The warmest daily reading in Illinois for August was 96 degrees, reported at Effingham on the 21st. The coolest daily reading in Illinois was 42 degrees, reported at Shabbona (DeKalb County) on the 25th.
Continue reading “August, Cool and Dry for Illinois”