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 >

Autumn (September through November) Precipitation Highlights:

Autumn produced above normal precipitation across much of central Illinois, and near to slightly below normal precipitation for east central Illinois. The much above normal precipitation that focused over northern sections of central Illinois, was the result of near record wet conditions in September, and well above normal rainfall in October. The heaviest totals occurred from near Peoria north, where 15"+ of liquid-equivalent precipitation fell. Surpluses in this area were as high as 7" in some locations. Seasonal deficits of around an inch or less were common over east central Illinois.
Snowfall was well above normal across the entire area. This was due to to a couple periods of active early winter-like weather from the end of October through Veteran's Day. Record daily snowfall occurred in some areas on Halloween and again on Veteran's Day. Seasonal totals of 4-8" were common west of I-55, which was 4-6" above normal.

Autumn Temperature Highlights:

While Autumn ended up very near the 30-year average on temperatures, there were strong temperature swings during the 3-month period. Fall started off exceptionally warm with September's average temperature more typical of August temperatures, or in the Top 10 warmest for many sites. Record warmth started of the first few days of October, followed by seasonably cold conditions for much of the month. An early winter-like airmass descended on the area for the last few days of the month and continued into mid-November. This resulted in well below normal temperatures for November.

Autumn Climate Statistics:

City	Precipitation	Departure from Normal	Snowfall	Departure from Normal	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal
Charleston	7.97"	-3.00"	3.9"	+3.2"	55.5	-0.7
Danville	11.25"	+0.92"	1.5"	+1.2"	54.3	-0.7
Decatur	12.20"	+2.10"	5.5"	+5.3"	51.4	-0.5
Effingham	10.61"	-0.10"	1.8"	+1.4"	55.8	+0.3
Flora	14.48"	+3.54"	3.0"	+2.7"	56.3	+0.3
Galesburg	16.29"	+7.20"	4.0"	+3.2"	50.9	-1.2
Havana	11.11"	+1.68"	3.0"	+2.2"	N/A	N/A
Jacksonville	8.75"	-1.40"	1.2"	+0.7"	54.7	+0.6
Lincoln	11.17"	+1.63"	4.5"	+3.9"	53.5	-0.4
Normal	11.75"	+2.06"	5.7"	+5.3"	52.7	-0.2
Olney	11.07"	-0.47"	3.1"	+2.8"	55.8	-0.4
Paris	9.41"	-0.93"	3.0"	+2.5"	53.5	-1.2
Peoria	14.85"	+5.73"	6.0"	+4.9"	53.6	-0.3
Springfield	13.94"	+4.68	7.0"	+6.4"	54.6	-0.4
Taylorville	10.39"	-0.62"	1.9"	N/A	N/A	N/A
Tuscola	9.99"	-0.12"	4.0"	+3.3"	53.9	-0.3
Urbana	10.27"	+0.20	2.1"	+1.1"	53.9	+0.1

Links below are the seasonal 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 that city.

Peoria -- Peoria International Airport
Springfield -- Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport
Lincoln -- Lincoln NWS office
Champaign -- University of Illinois - Willard Airport
Decatur -- Decatur Airport
Lawrenceville -- Lawrenceville-Vincennes International Airport
Mattoon -- Coles County Airport

Climate data for other area cities is available at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=ilx

Winter Look Ahead:

Official Winter outlooks from NOAA's Climate Predication center favor above normal precipitation, and no clear trend on temperatures for central and southeast IL.

ILX RSS Feed

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

Autumn Climate Summary