Heat Persists in the South Central U.S. and Southwest; Heavy rains in the Desert Southwest and Central Plains

Sweltering heat remains across the South-Central Plains, Lower/Middle Mississippi Valley, and the Southwest this week with limited nighttime relief. Thunderstorms will bring heavy rainfall leading to localized flash flooding in portions of the Desert Southwest and central Plains. Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms are possible across portions of the central Plains into the Northeast. Read More >

April Precipitation Highlights:

Numerous weather systems affected central and southeast Illinois during April. This resulted in above normal precipitation for most of the area, with the highest surpluses of 2-3" in southeast Illinois. Heavy rains fell on the 29th-30th, with 2-3" totals common over the northern half of central Illinois. This pushed many rivers above flood stage. Portions of western Illinois saw below normal precipitation for the month. Severe weather was well below what is typically seen in April.
While accumulating snowfall is relatively rare in April, a late winter storm system brought 1"+ to areas along and west of I-55, with higher totals of 2-5" falling near and northwest of the Illinois River Valley, on Sunday April 14th.

April Temperature Highlights:

Monthly average temperatures were within a degree of normal across the area. As is typical during spring, large temperature swings were observed. A cold snap on the 14th saw highs only reach the 30s and 40s, while widespread highs in the 80s were seen on the 22nd.

Climate Statistics:

Site	Precipitation	Departure from Normal	Snowfall	Departure from Normal	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal
Charleston	4.97"	+0.68"	0	-0.3"	55.6	+0.9
Danville	4.99"	+1.01"	0	-0.4"	53.6	+0.1
Decatur	5.61"	+1.94"	0	-0.2"	53.4	-1.0
Effingham	4.25"	+0.24"	0	-0.1"	54.2	+0.8
Flora	4.83"	+0.58"	0	0	55.3	+0.4
Galesburg	3.77"	+0.05"	M	M	49.4	-1.5
Havana	2.25"	-1.42"	M	M	N/A	N/A
Jacksonville	4.67"	+0.64"	1.0"	+0.7"	52.0	-0.1
Lincoln	5.38"	+1.77"	1.0"	+0.7"	52.7	+0.3
Normal	3.67"	0	1.5"	+0.8"	50.8	+0.8
Olney	6.63"	+2.30"	0	0	54.6	+0.4
Paris	4.99"	+0.88"	0	-0.2"	51.5	-1.2
Peoria	4.35"	+0.72"	5.0"	+4.4"	52.7	+0.4
Springfield	6.16"	+2.65"	0.7"	+0.4"	54.0	+0.5
Tuscola	4.87"	+0.73"	T	-0.1"	52.2	-0.3
Urbana	4.57"	+0.89"	T	-0.4"	52.4	+0.5

The following links are the monthly climate summaries for area cities. Only the summaries for Peoria, Springfield, and Lincoln are considered "official", meaning they are the station of record for their respective locations. The other summaries are "supplemental", meaning another location in the area is the official climate station for the city.

Peoria -- Peoria International Airport
Springfield -- Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport
Lincoln -- National Weather Service Office
Champaign -- University of Illinois-Willard Airport
Decatur -- Decatur Airport
Lawrenceville -- Lawrenceville-Vincennes International Airport
Mattoon -- Coles County Memorial Airport

Climate data for other cities is available at http://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ilx

ILX RSS Feed

Heat Persists in the South Central U.S. and Southwest; Heavy rains in the Desert Southwest and Central Plains

April Climate Summary