Here are the amounts for the last week, as of this morning. The areas in purple in far southern Illinois have received between 10 and 15 inches. Areas in shades of red have received between 5 and 10 inches. The areas in orange and yellow have received between 2 and 5 inches. Areas in green in northwest IL have received between 0.5 and 2 inches.
Here are the rainfall totals for the past two weeks. Same color scheme as before. Notice how the areas with 10 to 15 inches have expanded across much of southern IL south of Interstate 64 with a few areas just to the north.
NWS Cooperative Observer Network rainfall totals in Illinois for the period of April 26 to May 5, 2017, ranked from high to low. Totals that have exceeded the expected 10-day, 100-year rainfall amounts for that area are in red. Continue reading “Rainfall Over the Last 2 Weeks in Illinois”
Wet April and 2nd Warmest January-April on Record for Illinois
Precipitation: The statewide average precipitation for April in Illinois was 7.01 inches, 3.23 inches above normal and the 2nd wettest April on record. Here are the top five wettest Aprils. Notice a pattern? Three out of the five have been since 2011.
- April 2011 – 7.62 inches
- April 2017 – 7.01 inches
- April 1957 – 6.99 inches
- April 2013 – 6.93 inches
- April 1927 – 6.87 inches
The largest monthly total for April in Illinois was Carbondale with 14.41 inches. Several other sites in southern Illinois had similar amounts including Bush (Williamson County) with 13.63 inches, West Frankfort (Franklin County) with 13.35 inches, Kaskaskia (Randolph County) with 13.34 inches, and Murphysboro (Jackson County) with 13.02 inches.
Temperature: The statewide average temperature for April was 56.4 degrees, 3.8 degrees above average and the 11th warmest April on record. The warmest reading for April was 89 degrees at Kaskaskia on April 20. The coldest reading for the month was 19 degrees at Morrison on April 10.
Statewide records of temperature and precipitation go back to 1895.
Graphs
Here are the temperature departures for 2017. As you can see, every month in 2017 has been well above normal. So far this January-April is the 2nd warmest such period on record with a statewide average temperature of 43.2 degrees, 5.4 degrees above normal. Only 2012 was warmer at 44.5 degrees, 6.7 degrees above normal. [corrected from an earlier version]
Continue reading “Wet April and 2nd Warmest January-April on Record for Illinois”
Widespread, heavy rains possible over next week in Illinois
As of April 25, the statewide average precipitation for Illinois is 2.8 inches, which is 94% of normal. However, we have several opportunities for widespread rains this week and into the weekend, according to the NWS precipitation forecast.
The first round of rain on Wednesday and Thursday has potential rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches across most of Illinois, along with the chance for severe weather. Continue reading “Widespread, heavy rains possible over next week in Illinois”
5-Day Rainfall in Illinois and Midwest
Here are the 5-day accumulated rainfall totals for Illinois and the Midwest. Rainfall was heaviest south of Interstate 70 where amounts of 4 to 8 inches were common (lighter shades of blue). The largest 5-day rainfall total was from a CoCoRaHS station at Waltonville (IL-JF-2) with 10.79 inches. CoCoRaHS is a national network of trained volunteer precipitation observers, learn more at cocorahs.org
Continue reading “5-Day Rainfall in Illinois and Midwest”