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 >

July Precipitation Highlights:

As is typical during mid-summer, rainfall was hit and miss over much of the area. Well below normal rainfall was reported over most of central Illinois, where some locations were 2-3" below normal. Springfield recorded only 0.52" of rain, which set their 5th driest July (since 1879). The lack of widespread rainfall resulted in "abnormally dry" conditions developing over much of the area by late month, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. More frequent rainfall over far southeast Illinois produced above normal totals, southeast of a Flora to Casey line.

July Temperature Highlights:

Temperatures were well above normal across the area in July. Monthly averages of 2 to 3 degrees above normal were common. A stretch of hot and humid weather from the 18th-20th saw highs reach the mid 90s, with dew points in the mid 70s to around 80 degrees. This produced peak heat indices of 110-115 degrees. Record warm lows in the upper 70s were set over parts of central Illinois on the 19th.

July Climate Statistics:

City	Precipitation	Departure from Normal	Average Temperature	Departure from Normal
Charleston	3.59"	-0.88"	78.7	+2.5
Danville	1.28"	-3.39"	77.0	+1.9
Decatur	1.12"	-2.86"	77.7	+1.2
Effingham	2.39"	-2.04"	78.8	+2.4
Flora	5.01"	+1.01"	80.0	+2.9
Galesburg	1.25"	-2.99"	77.9	+3.3
Havana	1.46"	-2.45"	N/A	N/A
Jacksonville	2.50"	-1.36"	78.1	+1.0
Lincoln	1.22"	-3.84"	76.7	+1.7
Normal	3.80"	-0.36"	77.0	+2.6
Olney	5.08"	+0.75"	77.7	+1.3
Paris	2.30"	-2.13"	76.1	+0.6
Peoria	1.91"	-1.94"	78.4	+2.9
Springfield	0.52"	-3.42"	78.2	+2.4
Taylorville	2.89"	-0.84"	N/A	N/A
Tuscola	2.59"	-2.17"	77.3	+1.8
Urbana	3.38"	-1.32"	77.3	+2.4

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

July Climate Summary