Champaign, Ill. – Based on preliminary data in Illinois, the statewide average temperature for March was 43.6 degrees, 2.5 degrees above normal. This ends a three-month streak of colder than normal temperatures that occurred this winter, according to State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey (http://www.isws.illinois.edu).
The statewide average precipitation was 2.8 inches, 0.4 inches below normal. A year ago, the March precipitation was 4.2 inches, an inch above normal, signaling the start of a very wet growing season.
This year, the January to March precipitation total was 5.8 inches, 1.4 inches below normal. Drier conditions this year have helped soil moisture return to conditions more typical for this time of year after an exceptionally wet fall.
The latest National Weather Service outlook for April calls for an increased chance of above normal temperatures across Illinois and the Corn Belt. An increased chance of above normal precipitation is indicated for the western Corn Belt, including western Illinois. The eastern half of Illinois has an equal chance of above, below, and near normal precipitation.
“March certainly came in like a lion and out like a lamb. The average statewide temperature on March 1 was 32 degrees but warmed up to 58 degrees on March 31,” concludes Angel.
Cold February Wraps Up a Cold Winter
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Based on preliminary data in Illinois, the statewide average temperature for February 2010 was 25.1 degrees, 5.1 degrees below normal. Snowfall for February was above normal. Amounts ranged from 6 inches in southern Illinois to over 18 inches in the Quad Cities and Chicago areas.
The cold February, along with colder-than-normal temperatures in December and January, made this the 19th coldest winter on record. The 3-month average temperature was 25.3 degrees, 2.9 degrees below average. Winters in the late 1970s were still much colder with a virtual tie between the winter of 1977-1978 at 19.6 degrees and the winter of 1978-1979 at 19.9 degrees.
Winter snowfall totals (December—February) ranged from about 45 inches in northeast Illinois to just under 15 inches in southern Illinois. This was 1 to 3 inches above normal for southern Illinois to over 10 inches above normal in northern and western Illinois. Wintertime precipitation, both rainfall and the water content of snow, measured 7.04 inches and was 0.35 inches above normal.
The latest National Weather Service outlook for March calls for an increased chance of below-normal temperatures in the southern two-thirds of Illinois. It also calls for an increased chance of drier-than-normal conditions for the month. See the Climate Prediction Center page.
January – Cold Start to 2010
Based on preliminary data, the average statewide temperature for January was 21.1 degrees, 3.7 degree below normal. The statewide average precipitation for January was 1.50 inches, 0.43 inches and 22 percent below normal.
